Screengrab/Averie Bishop’s YouTube Channel
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Averie Bishop, a McKinney native, was the first Asian American to earn the title of Miss Texas. Her year-long reign ended in July, but the Southern Methodist University law school graduate has continued making headlines for her impassioned take on Texas politics.
A fierce opponent of the state’s ultraconservative policies, Bishop is now vying for office herself. The pageant queen has reportedly filed as a candidate for House District 112, which is currently held by state Rep. Angie Chen Button, a Richardson Republican.
Should Bishop prevail in the Democratic primary, she’ll square off against the conservative incumbent, who’s served in the lower chamber since 2009.
The Observer reached out to Bishop and Button for comment, but neither replied before publication time.
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At just 26 years old, Bishop is rather accomplished. She’s got a knack for performing musical theater and obtained both her bachelor’s and law degrees from SMU.
She previously interned for U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Houston Democrat, and has gone viral for her TikTok videos touching on reproductive rights, diversity and gay marriage. Her social media presence is robust: 83,600 followers on Instagram; 841,700 TikTok followers and 66,300 YouTube subscribers.
@averiebishop Do serious candidates make #grwm TikToks?? #law #politics ♬ original sound – Aves
The North Texan hinted at her political aspirations in a TikTok video posted Tuesday, saying she’d been “researching running for public office” – something she notes is quite expensive.
“In conclusion, we just need more normal people to run for office: people who have student loans, like myself; people who are living month-to-month, for example; people who are teachers,” she says in the video. “We need normal people to run so that we can change the system from within.”
In 2020, Bishop was crowned as Miss Dallas and was named Miss Carrollton the following year. She’s a member of Mayor Eric Johnson’s Anti-Hate Advisory Council.
Bishop has openly blasted Texas Republicans’ recent attacks on diversity and inclusion efforts, leading to write-ups in The Washington Post and Teen Vogue‘s politics section. She also penned an op-ed published by MSNBC on July 8 in which she highlights her advocacy for Texas immigrants, LGBTQ+ folks and people of color.
In that piece, Bishop underscored an urgent need to “hold our leaders and institutions accountable.
“And I think most Texans agree with me,” she continued. “Whether you vote red, white or blue, the colors of our flag come together to symbolize the simple, human desire of belonging to something bigger than ourselves. And if Texas truly desires to be ‘bigger and better,’ Gov. Greg Abbott and state leadership must cease its assault on DEI policy and focus on improving the economic and social livelihood of all of us.”
