As part of our commitment to support strong women who can shake up the political landscape in the age of Trump, we’re highlighting content of two remarkable Democratic candidates running in Texas.
Pictured below from a 9/16 Erath County Candidate Forum held at the courthouse in Stephenville, TX are: retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Kim Olson, who is running for Texas Commissioner of Agriculture; and Julie Oliver, an Austin attorney running on a powerful personal story to serve the TX-25th Congressional District as its Representative.
Back in June, we first met Kim following a barnstorming speech at the Texas Democratic Party’s Convention in Fort Worth. She’s running against GOP incumbent Ag Commissioner Sid Miller – one of Texas’ most Trumpean elected officials and someone routinely pushing divisive narratives similar to the President’s. While Olson certainly faces an uphill battle against Miller in conservative Texas, she has demonstrated an O’Rourke-style vigor for meeting Texans where they are in over 200 of the 254 counties. She’s backed up by a proud career of public service that spans a 28 years as one of the first female military pilots in our nation’s history and as an executive administrator at Dallas ISD. She has a deep knowledge of the issues facing the future of the office – representing farmers and ranchers as a 4th generation sustainable agriculturalist, leading on land and water issues in Texas, cultivating a 21st Century rural landscape with smart development projects, and ensuring access to healthy food in school lunch programs across the state.
Kim is tied with Mike Collier just behind Beto in our ranking of statewide Democrats offering the most hope for post-ridiculous Texas representation this November. That said, if her truly no-bullshit talk about how to better serve Texans doesn’t sell enough voters to her camp, she will certainly benefit from buoyed Democratic turnout as the Early Vote engagement continues to shatter records across the State of Texas. Fingers-crossed, Kim!
Here are a few more of Olson at a 8/29 Candidate Town Hall in Hamilton, TX (Other Poli Pix Co. images published here):
We’re happy to continue supporting Julie Oliver’s bid for the 25th Congressional District with event coverage of her campaign in action across the 13 counties representing the District. As a mother of 4 and tireless advocate for protecting and expanding equitable access to quality and affordable healthcare, she’s a political newcomer and defines the exact type of woman running in record numbers to lead in the face of our current political climate.
Other candidates from that event gallery include U.S. Congressional candidate Jennie Lou Leeder and Kevin Lopez, who is running for the State Senate seat serving Erath County.