AUSTIN, Texas -- Next month, former Air Force helicopter pilot MJ Hegar and longtime state senator Royce West of Dallas will face off in a U.S. Senate runoff for their party's nomination to take on John Cornyn in the fall.

West is leaning on his political experience and endorsements, including support from most Democrats at the Texas Legislature, but Hegar finished first in the 12-way March primary ahead of West and has raised the most money.

"My experience of serving our country in uniform, which by the way, if you're going to deploy troops into combat zones, you should have some experience as to what that costs people, being a working mom, being laid off from a job, having a business degree, you know, I really think that those are the experiences that we're missing in DC," Hegar said in an interview on Capital Tonight.

Hegar has said access to health care is her top priority and that she’ll push for a public option.

When asked about the state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, she said she’d like to see a more intentional plan for reopening.

“I would have liked to have seen, ‘We’re going to open when these numbers hit this, when we have this amount of testing,’” she said. “I am concerned that if we open irresponsibly, then small businesses are going to be hit even harder because they’re going to face a lack of customers or a second shutdown, which would be devastating.”

The runoff is July 14. Click the video link above to watch our full interview with Hegar, including her take on the legal battle over mail-in voting in Texas.