The Air Force veteran behind one of the most viral videos of the 2018 campaign is back. MJ Hegarāwho last year nearly knocked off a longtime GOP congressman in a heavily Republican districtāannounced Tuesday that she will challenge Texas Sen. John Cornyn in 2020.
Unseating an entrenched incumbent senator is going to be tough, but Iāve faced worse odds in my life. Saddle up, Texas. Iām in. Join me at https://t.co/cDULHGNQXG https://t.co/Xbt0oB4xYD
— MJ Hegar (@mjhegar) April 23, 2019
Hegar burst onto the national scene last year with a video, titled “Doors,” that detailed her military service and her fight against the ban on women in ground combat jobs. She went on to narrowly lose her race against Republican incumbent John Carter in Texas’ 31st congressional district.
Cornynāwho Hegar now hopes to unseat in 2020āhas his own experience with viral ads. In 2008, his campaign released a bizarre Wild West-style video called “Big John.”
Hegar referenced “Big John” in her own video announcing her Senate run. “He calls himself ‘Big John,'” she notes, “But he shrinks out of the way while Mitch McConnell gets in the way of anything actually getting done in our government.”