A new ad featuring Democratic U.S. Senate candidate MJ Hegar is set to hit airwaves this week.
The 30-second spot shows Hegar, a former Air Force helicopter pilot, prepping for takeoff with her children while she discusses the fight against climate change and need for affordable healthcare. She is the only candidate in the field on television.
The ad comes days after the Hegar campaign filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission against Sen. John Cornyn’s campaign, accusing Cornyn of failing to return illegal conduit donations from one of the campaign’s major donors.
“Senator Cornyn and his campaign are in full damage control mode… Cornyn accepted an illegal donation, said he would return it, and when he failed to do so in the allotted time broke campaign finance law,” her campaign said in a statement late last week.
Hegar is one of several candidates vying to replace Cornyn. Despite the Texas primary being less than a month away, polling indicates the crowded race has yet to produce a clear frontrunner.
Hegar has polled slightly ahead of other candidates and has raised the most money, about 2 million more than her next closest contender, state Sen. Royce West.
On Sunday, the Dallas Morning News endorsed West and former Houston City Council member Amanda Edwards. “Given the number of candidates running, the Democratic primary is almost certain to end in a runoff. With that in mind, we urge voters to focus on two,” wrote the Dallas Morning News, becoming the first major Texas paper to issue endorsements.
The Texas primary will take place Tuesday, March 3.
Photo by MJ for Texas
Fernando covers Texas politics and government at the Texas Signal. Before joining the Signal, Fernando spent two years at the Houston Chronicle and previously interned at Houston’s NPR station News 88.7. He is a graduate of the University of Houston, Jack J. Valenti School of Communication, and enjoys reading, highlighting things, and arguing on social media. You can follow him on Twitter at @fernramirez93 or email at fernando@texassignalarchive.com
