Political ad by Texas war hero running for Congress goes viral

MJ Hegar was in a medevac that crashed during her tour of duty in Afghanistan.

Credit: Philipp Guelland

Credit: Philipp Guelland

MJ Hegar was in a medevac that crashed during her tour of duty in Afghanistan.

A decorated Air Force veteran is running for Congress, and the Texas Democrat released a political video that went viral since its release Thursday, USA Today reported.

Mary Jennings "MJ" Hegar, who won a Purple Heart and Distinguished Flying Cross for bravery in Afghanistan, is running for the District 31 seat held by eight-term Republican John Carter. Her ad, called "Doors," traces a life that included fleeing domestic abuse and helping her unit escape capture from the Taliban after their medevac helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan, USA Today reported.

“Doors,” recorded against a backdrop of the Rolling Stones’ hit “Gimme Shelter,” describes Hegar’s “opening, pushing, and sometimes kicking through every door in my way.”

The mother of two from Round Rock, Texas, later challenged the Pentagon's policy that excluded women from ground combat.

Hegar’s ad ends with a promise to “show the door” to Carter, whom she describes as a Tea Party Republican.

Hegar published a memoir of her time in the military, "Shoot Like a Girl: One Woman's Dramatic Fight in Afghanistan and on the Home Front," in 2017.