Sign up for The Brief , The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news. GARLAND — Rep. Angie Chen Button, 70, is living the American Dream.
After immigrating from Taiwan to Texas for graduate school at 24, she improved her English, climbed the corporate ladder and was elected to the state House, where she has served eight terms as the only Asian American woman in the Legislature. Averie Bishop, 28, is living her own version of the American Dream. Her mother fled poverty in the Philippines and moved to Texas where she worked as a maid and married a bus driver.
The two worked hard so Bishop could eventually go to college and law school, and, in 2022, become the first Asian American to be crowned Miss Texas. These two women — Button a Republican, and Bishop a Democrat — say their stories reflect the opportunity and upward mobility that have drawn so many immigrants to Texas. Now they face off this November in a rare election featuring two Asian candidates, vying for the seat in House District 112, which is poised to be one of the state’s most competitive legislative races.
Button has held on to her seat representing a slice of Dallas’ northern suburbs through several tough elections, since being first elected in 2008. She is a formidable incumbent with strong relationships with state officials, including Gov. Greg Abbott , who is counting on her reelection in part to push through school voucher legislation in the .