In Texas election, a mathematician turned minister looks for winning formula

[Sanguine]

Starting this month, ScienceInsider will be following the 2018 U.S. elections, which have attracted unusual interest from the scientific community. Dozens of candidates with backgrounds in science, technology, engineering, and math are seeking election to Congress, and hundreds more are running for state and local offices. We will be profiling candidates and reporting on news from the campaign trail.

This story is the second in a three-part series about three Texas candidates with scientific backgrounds who are running for the U.S. House of Representatives as Democrats. The primary is 6 March.

AUSTIN—Can a former mathematics professor turned minister with no political experience, little money, and a very progressive agenda be elected to Congress in a solidly Republican district? Mary Wilson, who is running as a Democrat for the U.S. House of Representatives from the 21st congressional district in central Texas, hopes the answer is yes.

Wilson, 58, sees her career as ideal training for what she thinks is now lacking in Washington, D.C.—greater compassion and the ability to listen to those with opposing views. Since 2002 she has led a small church here that also hosts monthly sabbath services for Jewish congregants, Friday prayers for a group of female Muslim worshippers, and an alternative school. Before that she spent 2 decades as a professor and administrator at Austin Community College (ACC), helping a diverse group of students take their first step into careers in a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics field....



http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/02/texas-election-mathematician-turned-minister-looks-winning-formula?utm_campaign=news_daily_2018-02-26&et_rid=344331732&et_cid=1874937

There's so much here.   

[Sanguine]

And, here's the third one:

Aerospace engineer and ‘clean energy warrior’ eyes Texas congressional seat

By Jeffrey MervisFeb. 27, 2018 , 9:00 AM

Starting this month, ScienceInsider will be following the 2018 U.S. elections, which have attracted unusual interest from the scientific community. Dozens of candidates with backgrounds in science, technology, engineering, and math are seeking election to Congress, and hundreds more are running for state and local offices. We will be profiling candidates and reporting on news from the campaign trail.

This story is the third in a three-part series about three Texas candidates with scientific backgrounds who are running for the U.S. House of Representatives as Democrats. The primary is 6 March.

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS—Joseph Kopser prides himself on seizing opportunities and making his own luck. But he’s also had a lot of help. He credits his mentors in the U.S. Army for giving him a chance to become “a clean energy warrior” during a 20-year career. And he says he couldn’t have started a successful ride-matching company without his degree in aerospace engineering from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York.

Now, Kopser hopes to help Democrats regain control of the U.S. House of Representatives by winning a congressional seat in south central Texas that has been solidly Republican for decades. To do so, he must first defeat three Democratic challengers. Some observers say his significantly larger campaign chest makes him the favorite in the race. And if they are right that fundraising is the key to victory, then Kopser will need to thank people like Elise Boyan.
...

Boyan is a longtime Democratic party activist and former classmate of Barack Obama at Harvard Law School. In 2007, she not only worked as a volunteer on Obama’s presidential campaign, she also hosted the then–Illinois senator, who gave a stump speech in the front yard of her home in a tiny San Antonio neighborhood...

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/02/aerospace-engineer-and-clean-energy-warrior-eyes-texas-congressional-seat