Former Justice Department official to succeed Luttrell in Texas district

Jessica Steinmann (R) is projected to defeat Laura Jones (D) in Texas’s 8th Congressional District, according to Decision Desk HQ .

Steinmann leads Jones by about 10 points with 91 percent of the vote in, per DDHQ.

The constitutional lawyer will succeed Rep. Morgan Luttrell (R-Texas), a 50-year-old former Navy SEAL who is departing the lower chamber after one term.

Steinmann’s win, which came after she cruised to victory in the March Republican primary , is no surprise. She defeated Jones, a real estate agent, after Texas lawmakers last year slightly redrew the 8th District in the southeastern part of the state.

Steinmann was the director of the Justice Department’s Office of Victims of Crime during President Trump’s first term. Between the president’s initial and ongoing term, she was the executive general counsel at the America First Policy Institute.

In the latter role, Steinmann led legal challenges to Democratic policies across the country and sued Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) over his eventually successful efforts to prosecute Trump .

Steinmann also helped draft a law that made significant changes to Texas’s voting system. The Lone Star State adopted the law in 2021, despite Democrats in the Texas Legislature fleeing the state in an attempt to block it.

On the campaign trail, Steinmann aligned herself with the MAGA movement, touting endorsements from Trump, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

She also pushed back on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, vowed to bar transgender girls from playing women’s sports and backed Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.