El Paso County Judge Veronica Escobar officially announced her bid for Congress Friday afternoon.
Escobar, who filed her paperwork on Friday, is going after current Congressman Beto O’Rourke’s 16th Congressional District seat as he runs his own campaign for the 2018 U.S. Senate. She is currently serving her second term as El Paso County Judge after previously serving one term as County Commissioner for Precinct 2.
It was speculated that Escobar was seeking to run for Congress when she announced that she would not be seeking re-election for her current position.
The Democrat candidate has made a name for herself serving the citizens of El Paso while working for non-profit organizations, in education and now in the local government. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas at El Paso in 1991 and has won numerous awards for her service.
With this announcement it is expected that she will have to resign as county judge before her term is up in December 2018. If elected, she will be the first Latina member of Congress hailing from Texas.
Escobar is expected to make an official announcement in her hometown of El Paso on Saturday.
