MJ Hegar for Texas’ 31st Congressional District

It has been an honor photographing MJ Hegar, candidate for Texas’ 31st Congressional District.

Photographing for the MJ for Texas campaign showed me that we need more people like her in congress. MJ is an Air Force veteran who served as a combat search and rescue pilot with three tours in Afghanistan. She’s a wife, a mother, and a recipient of the Purple Heart. She’s running in the district she grew up in and still lives in.

MJ has a record of standing up for what she believes in. She sued the Pentagon on restrictions against women serving in ground combat units. In 2013, the then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta reversed the ban, allowing women to serve in those units. While fighting for that right, her congressperson would not take a meeting with her. He has been in office for 15 years, and MJ stepped up to challenge him and to serve our country once again.

“In the military, we are thrown into a melting pot of cultures and communities and we disagree a lot on how to accomplish the mission, but when it comes time to get the work done, we focus our energy on accomplishing the mission…” (via Military)

You may have seen her ad Doors, which went viral! I am so happy to be able to visually represent her and the campaign she is running.

Here are a few of my favorite images along with the images that were used throughout the campaign.