With blunt talk and compelling stories, viral videos are turning unknown female candidates into political sensations

MJ Hegar, an Air Force pilot shot down by the Taliban in Afghanistan, was a political unknown until she opened fire with 2018’s most effective political weapon: the viral online video.

Hegar’s 3½ -minute biographical ad, called “Doors,” has been viewed online by nearly 5 million people. It features the door from the chopper whose crash she survived and refers to the glass door she says her mother was thrown through by her abusive father. Inspired by Hegar’s story, donations have poured into the Texas Democrat’s campaign to unseat Rep. John Carter, a Republican who has been in Congress since 2003.