As Democrats look to expand their House majority, they are hoping to flip the seat for Texas' 24th congressional district.
Republican incumbent Rep. Kenny Marchant is retiring, leaving the seat up for grabs in a district where Donald Trump had a strong showing in the 2016 presidential election, but Democrat Beto O'Rourke performed well in his failed 2018 bid for Senate
Now, if the Democratic nominee Candace Valenzuela manages to pull off a win, she will make history as the country's first Afro-Latina congresswoman.
Still, the idea that lawmakers continue to make history by breaking racial and cultural barriers reflects the lack of progress America has made.
"The fact that I'm the first in 2020, it just speaks to the fact that we've been lacking representation in so many different ways," she noted.
After winning in a primary runoff, Valenzuela told Cheddar she is confident that she will be heading to Washington because she can relate to the voters in her community.
"It's the quintessential American story," Valenzuela said. "It's the story of families fighting for the ability to put a roof over their heads, put food on the table, to see their children succeed because they have access to education they need."
For Valenzuela, life has presented its share of obstacles including homelessess that drove her family to live in shelters, and even outside of a gas station, but through government-assisted programs she says they persevered and landed on solid ground.
"Those opportunities are those that I'm fighting for every Texas and every American," she said. "We were able to get things together through some key programs. Housing through HUD, we got food stamps, and public schools became a source of stability, a source of home, a source of social stability for my brother and I."
As no stranger to hitting life's curveballs,Valenzuela said the challenges brought by the coronavirus pandemic will not stop her from delivering her message of relatability to voters.
"Instead of knocking on doors, we've been making phone calls, we've been shooting texts, we've been having digital town halls on Facebook, on Instagram, on Twitter," she said.
