El Paso voters have elected Mary E. Gonzalez, an openly gay woman, to the Texas House of Representatives, Gay Politics reports.

Gonzalez’s victory in the Democratic primary all but secures her seat representing the state’s District 75 (she faces no Republican opponent in the general election).

“I do think that people cared more about the issues than my personal life,” Gonzalez told the El Paso Times. “People cared more about having a legislator who was going to fight for education, make sure people had jobs and put El Paso first.”

Via Gay Politics:

Gonzalez will become just the second openly LGBT individual to serve in the Texas legislature. (The first, former State Rep. Glen Maxey, served from 1991 to 2003.) Her win will shrink the number of state legislatures – currently 17 – with no openly LGBT lawmakers.

Read the full story at the Advocate