--- title: MJ Hegar's Viral Campaign Ad Racks Up 4 Million Views description: MJ Hegar is a combat veteran and a mom running against Rep. John Carter in Texas' 31st Congressional District. canonical: https://time.com/5321573/mj-hegar-congress-campaign-ad-texas/ author: Alix Langone article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-06-25T22:27:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T09:32:07.936Z article:section: Politics og:title: Watch the Election Ad From a Veteran That Everyone Is Talking About og:description: It's racked up nearly 4 million views online og:url: https://time.com/5321573/mj-hegar-congress-campaign-ad-texas/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6b6d60c20bb7dd38/698933dc0a4a22504a9d30af/mj-heger-viral-ad-texas-doors.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2405 og:image:height: 1353 og:image:alt: mj-heger-viral-ad-texas-doors og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch the Election Ad From a Veteran That Everyone Is Talking About twitter:description: It's racked up nearly 4 million views online twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6b6d60c20bb7dd38/698933dc0a4a22504a9d30af/mj-heger-viral-ad-texas-doors.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch the Election Ad From a Veteran That Everyone Is Talking About > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=2657746c-79a8-419f-865c-2d9a83992575&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: MJ Hegar for Texas Campaign Ad - Doors [Watch (HLS stream): MJ Hegar for Texas Campaign Ad - Doors](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Q2xGyxAg.m3u8) (3:28)  _Published 2018-06-25. My whole life has been about opening, pushing, and sometimes kicking through every door in my way. Ready for a Congress that opens doors for Americans instead of slamming them in our faces?_ by [Alix Langone](https://time.com/author/alix-langone/) ## Alix Langone Jun 25, 2018 10:27 PM UTC My whole life has been about opening, pushing, and sometimes kicking through every door in my way. Ready for a Congress that opens doors for Americans instead of slamming them in our faces? by [Alix Langone](https://time.com/author/alix-langone/) ## Alix Langone Jun 25, 2018 10:27 PM UTC A combat veteran and mom running for Congress has racked up nearly 4 million views online with a viral ad that tells her personal story – and attacks her Republican opponent. [MJ Hegar](https://www.mjfortexas.com/) is a Democrat trying to break through against Rep. John Carter in Texas’ 31st Congressional District. [The Cook Political Report](https://www.cookpolitical.com/ratings/house-race-ratings) rates the race as “likely Republican.” The ad, titled “Doors,” tracks Hegar’s journey through the [doors she says she has opened](http://time.com/watch-the-trailer-for-time-firsts/) for herself and others. Hegar narrates the highly produced spot and describes her military career, which included three tours in Afghanistan as a Medevac pilot. Her experience there culminated in being awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with Valor and the Purple Heart after her helicopter was shot down. Hegar uses the metaphor of “doors” to explain that she sometimes found herself “kicking through doors” to pursue her dream of becoming a pilot. In 2012, after she was shot down, [she successfully sued the Department of Defense](http://ideas.time.com/2012/12/03/banning-women-from-comat-makes-no-sens/), arguing that the military’s Combat Exclusion Policy, which prohibited women from serving in many combat jobs, was unconstitutional. In 2013, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta changed the policy. Hegar also takes jabs at Carter, who she says refused to meet with her when she was lobbying for the military rule change – implying it was because she wasn’t a donor. “Congressman Carter hasn’t had a tough race his entire career,” Hegar ends the ad, “so, we’ll show him tough, and then we’ll show him the door.” ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] This is a story about Doris. A lot of them. And that's me MJ Hegar. An airforce combat veteran, and a mom. This door behind me is from my [ UNKNOWN ] Helicopter. It's all that's left of the aircraft I was flying that day. I was on a rescue mission in Afghanistan as a Combat Search and Rescue Pilot. I heard the windshield crack, and realized Guy had been shot. [ NOISE ] But continued the mission and airlifted the patients out. After taking even more fire, we crashed a few miles away. But my story begins much earlier. One of my first memories was [ UNKNOWN ]. But it was my dad throwing my mom through a glass window. Three years later mom got the courage to walk out the door. And she opened a new one for my sister and me here in Texas. And it was here that I put my foot on the gas and followed my dream to be a pilot. And that meant opening, pushing, sometimes kicking through every door that was in my way. I signed up for ROTC at UT Then, I was commissioned as an officer in the Air Force. I served five years in the Aircraft Maintenance working on the F- 16 and the B- 2. I managed to get one of only a handful of slots for flight school. Then I spent a year training in the flight. I flew water drops over wildfires in California. [ MUSIC ] And eventually three tours in Afghanistan, and then the crash. Two army helicopters rescued us from the wreckage. I strapped myself to the skids and returned fire on the Taliban while we flew to safety That got me a Purple Heart, and I became the second woman ever awarded the distinguished Flying Cross with Valor. But after that, the door closed. Injured and unable to fly, I was barred from my next career choice because I was a woman. So, I came home. I worked in healthcare and business. I got married, and started my family. Wait. Barred because I was a woman. That's ridiculous. So I sued the Pentagon, but not just about that job. About the ban on women serving in all ground combat jobs. And I went to DC to lobby Congress. But door after door was slammed in my face. I heard things like, my boss agrees with you but you aren't in a position to do anything for him. You're not one of our donors. Well, eventually. We are eliminating the direct ground combat exclusion rule for women. We won. And that opened the door for hundreds of thousands of women to compete for elite ground combat jobs, a major victory for our military. Hold on, back up a minute. Not one of his donors? That's not how this is supposed to work. [ MUSIC ] One of those closed doors was my congressman. Tea Party Republican John Carter. Apparently, being his constituent and a veteran wasn't enough to get a meeting. I guess I also needed to be a donor. So now I'm running against Taking on a system that cares more about campaign donors and political parties than protecting our country. Congressman Carter hasn't had a tough race his entire career. So, We'll show him tough, then we'll show him the door. 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