Texas state Rep. Michelle Beckley, who is among the Democratic lawmakers who fled the state to oppose the Republican voting reform bill, announced Tuesday she is running for a seat in the U.S. Congress.
Beckley, who is currently serving in the Texas Legislature, will challenge freshman Republican Rep. Beth Van Duyne who represents Texas’ 24th congressional district.
“Texans want and deserve a champion in Congress who will stand up and fight for them,” Beckley said in a statement obtained by The Dallas Morning News. “Beth Van Duyne has spent the past seven months spreading Donald Trump’s big lie and undermining our fair and free elections. The very fabric of our nation is under attack, and I’m running for Congress to save it,” she added.
Beckley is among the Democratic lawmakers who fled Texas to prevent quorum on GOP’s voting reform bills. She announced her campaign for the House from Washington, D.C., where Texas Democrats have been staying since last Monday to push Congress for a federal action on voting rights. (RELATED: ANALYSIS: Just Like Georgia, The New Texas Voting Law Expands Access To The Ballot Box)
In her announcement video, Beckley is seen in her hotel room in D.C. and walking through the capital, visiting the National Mall. “Generations of Americans have come to Washington to learn about our democracy. I came here with over 50 of my colleagues to save it, leaving our families behind to block the Texas Republican’s voter suppression bill,” she says in the video.
Beckley also criticized her Republican opponent for voting to object to Pennsylvania’s 2020 election results. “One of her first acts in Congress was to vote in favor of throwing out millions of ballots to help Trump steal the election. Beth Van Duyne can walk away from her duty to defend democracy, but not me.” (RELATED: FLASHBACK: Biden Quickly, Repeatedly Overruled House Democrats’ Objections During Trump Certification Vote)
Van Duyne has yet to respond to her latest challenger, but she introduced a resolution Tuesday “urging the U.S. House of Representatives Sergeant at Arms, Capitol Police, and Department of Justice” to provide support to Texas state authorities to help bring back the lawmakers, according to The Dallas Morning Post.
“I am in the minority party in Congress, but you don’t abandon your constituents, hold up our democracy, and go on a fundraising tour because you don’t get your way. If they won’t go back home to do the work for the people, I’m proud to do my part to send them back,” Van Duyne said in a statement provided to the newspaper.
Beckley is joining another serious Democratic challenger to Van Duyne. Derrik Gay, a former intelligence officer in the Marine Corps, announced his bid last month, The Texas Tribune reported. Van Duyne, former Mayor of Irving who later served in the Trump administration, won the congressional seat in 2018 by one percentage point margin, making her the one of the targets for Democrats in 2022.