Democrat Katy Padilla Stout held a victory press conference Wednesday after defeating Republican Brandon Herrera and flipping Texas’ largest congressional district.
Speaking on the steps outside the Bexar County Courthouse, Stout called her 23rd Congressional District win historic and said it belongs to all Texans.
The race was one of the most competitive U.S. House races in the state. Historically, the district has brought a close race between both parties, flipping every few years through the early 2000s. But the race opened up after Republican Tony Gonzales dropped his reelection bid and resigned from Congress in April amid a sex scandal with a staffer.
Stout said her first priorities in Washington will be transparency, accountability, reducing corruption and lowering prices.
“This race was always about local issues,” Stout said, citing access to health care, universal pre-K and lowering costs for Texas families.
She thanked her husband, parents, sister, volunteers and staff, and said the campaign knocked on hundreds of thousands of doors with help from people across the country.
Stout, a former public school teacher and an attorney who represented children in foster care, spoke about her family’s roots. She said her mother was a former migrant worker and that her great-grandfather worked as a janitor at the courthouse where she once practiced law.
Stout said many voters felt ignored while struggling with the affordability of basic needs. She believes those voters recognized her as a member of the community and that her record “spoke for itself.”
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She said her Republican opponent’s campaign was driven by attack ads.
Stout defeated Herrera early Wednesday morning, according to the Associated Press. Stout led Herrera by nearly 8 percentage points with 100% of precincts reporting.
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