Armando Trull had the story this morning on WAMU complete with a quote from the Seventh State:

Now state Del. Ana Sol Gutierrez of Montgomery County is looking to take the seat, looking to score another notable first in a career full of them.

“I can bring forth a new voice and a new face, a truly immigrant experience that changes the dialogue and changes the way we are looking at human beings in our society,” she says.

Sol began her political career in 1990 after winning a school board seat in Montgomery County and becoming the first Salvadoran to be elected to office in the United States. In 2002, she followed that up by becoming the first Latina in the Maryland State House capturing Van Hollen’s old seat when he went to Congress.

If Sol wins the primary and general election for the Eighth District, she would become the first Latina and first Salvadoran to represent Maryland in Congress. But that may be a tough hat trick, says David Lublin, a political science professor at American University.

“She clearly has name recognition within District 18, which she represents. There’s a difference between getting one in three votes for the House of Delegates, which is where she’s been for a long time at this point, and a vote for Congress,” she says.

Like the other candidates, Gutiérrez will need to raise substantial amounts of money and campaign hard in order to have a real shot at the race. This would represent a change from recent campaigns. In 2014, she raised under $13,000 for her reelection bid to the House of Delegates even as she cruised to a second place primary finish behind Jeff Waldstreicher. She came in first in 2010.