Gina Ortiz-Jones, the Democratic candidate for Texas’s 23rd Congressional District, was reportedly spotted Wednesday attending Congress’s new member orientation despite still trailing in her Republican challenger Rep. Will Hurd.
Ortiz-Jones was seen with a staffer leaving the Courtyard Marriott in Washington, D.C., according to Gray Television Washington News Bureau — a reporter for the publication recorded the sighting. The freshman lawmaker-to-be is reportedly staying at the Courtyard hotel in preparation of the forthcoming congressional session.
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The Texas Democratic hopeful is unlikely to win her election. With 100 percent of precincts reporting, she unofficially trails Hurd by around 700 votes. Accordingly, Hurd, the incumbent, has already declared victory in the race. (RELATED: Texas Stays Mostly Red As Republicans Win Majority Of Closely Watched House Races)
In a last-ditch effort to swing the election in her favor, Ortiz-Jones filed a motion on Tuesday to extend the deadline to make official provisional ballots. A judge denied the request, reported The Dallas Morning News. Ortiz-Jones claimed the motion “is about making sure that every vote is counted.”
“The goal of Gina Jones’ desperate lawsuit was to force county election officials to violate Texas law,” said Justin Hollis, Hurd’s campaign manager. “In contrast, our campaign wants every vote to be counted with a clear, uniform standard in accordance with the law. If they are, the final vote tally will reflect the will of the voters and re-elect Will Hurd to Congress.”
Ortiz-Jones’s campaign did not immediately respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request to comment, however, it told The San Antonio Express that the Committee on House Administration invited her to attend the Capitol Hill events.
According to Courtney Parella, the committee’s spokeswoman, candidates in undeclared races are allowed “to participate in all of the official programming.”
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