Gina Ortiz Jones is an Iraq war veteran, first-generation American and a lesbian. And she’s running for Congress in Texas’ 23rd Congressional District. If she wins, she’ll be the first Filipina-American congresswoman – ever.
“I just really felt called to step up and serve in my community,” Ortiz Jones, a Democrat, told CNN’s Brooke Baldwin, on her new show, “American Woman In Politics.”
“I always say you can’t be surprised when the people who are the most vulnerable, who have the most to lose, step up and say, ‘You know what, I got something to say about that, I’m gonna run,’” she said.
Ortiz Jones knows what it’s like to feel marginalized. She served in Iraq under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” living in fear that if her sexuality was revealed, it could cost her her job.
“It was stressful just because you’re in a war zone. And then the added stress of having to serve under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell … I just really know that it’s so important that we never go back to that time. If anybody is willing to die for their country, serve their country, they should be able to do that,” she told Baldwin.
Ortiz Jones said that when she first thought about the possibility of running, she looked up the voting record of her two-term incumbent, Republican Rep. Will Hurd. She found herself “amazed” at how often he had voted in line with President Trump’s policies.
“We’ve got to send folks that are ready to fight and ready to get it done and ready to call out the folks that are being silent,” she said.
Baldwin asked her whether it will have been worth it if, despite her best efforts, she ends up losing in November.
“For sure,” Ortiz Jones replied. “Our country is worth fighting for.”
“At the end of the day I’ll be able to say I did everything I could do when my country needed me,” she said.