Texas Is Poised To Elect Its First Latina Congresswoman

The state of Texas appears close to electing its first Latina congresswoman in history, possibly the first two, according to preliminary primary election results released Tuesday.

Democrats Veronica Escobar, running for her party’s nomination in Texas’ 16th Congressional District, and Sylvia Garcia, running in the state’s 29th, were tracking well ahead of competitors in their races late Tuesday. While many votes are yet to be counted, whoever secures the party’s nomination is likely to head to Congress, as both districts lean heavily blue.

Any candidate who secures 50 percent of the vote in a Texas primary secures the party’s nomination, but if no one wins a majority, the top two candidates will head to a runoff on May 22.

The Cook Political Report’s Dave Wasserman noted that both Escobar and Garcia were likely to avoid such runoffs and said that if either secured a win on Tuesday, it’s likely they’ll win in Democratic-leaning El Paso (the 16th District) and Houston (the 29th). He pointed out that either election would make history, as no Latina had ever been sent to Congress from the state.

Source: huffingtonpost