Meet Jessica

Jessica has been married to her husband Jonathan Bradshaw for 16 years. Jonathan and Jessica have 2 children, Christopher age 9 and Paulina age 8.

Born in Matamoros, Mexico, Jessica grew up in Brownsville, Texas with her mother and two sisters. Her Rio Grande Valley experiences give her a deep understanding of immigration, employment, national security, and economic issues within the district she wishes to represent. She grew up bilingual and is fond of telling people that she learned English like she learned Spanish – from the beginning.

After graduating from South Texas High School for Health Professions in 1992, Jessica attended the University of Texas at Brownsville-Texas Southernmost College at age 19. While a student at UTB for 2 years, Jessica worked at The Collegian, the UTB student newspaper. She served as the graphic/layout editor, as well as a political editorial cartoonist.

After her marriage to Jonathan in 1995, Jessica relocated to her husband’s hometown of Salt Lake City, Utah. There, Jessica earned a B.F.A. in Painting and Drawing from the University of Utah in 1998. During her college years Jessica returned to her Latina roots by teaching elementary students extracurricular Spanish I & II. She found that adults also enjoyed her Spanish courses at the local high school.

Following graduation from the University of Utah, Jessica and Jonathan relocated to San Jose, California. She became deeply involved in community service. Jessica taught computer, English, and U.S. Citizenship classes to minority adults. Her goal was to inspire and empower people to become productive members of the community. Jessica then joined the faculty of Ocala Middle School and taught Reading, Social Studies, English and ESL. Jessica recalls this time in her life fondly, saying “I took advantage of this opportunity to encourage all my students to be proud of their heritage and to strive beyond what society perceived them to be capable of and to warn them to not let society impose “lower standards” upon them via Affirmative Action programs.”

Jessica’s years in Utah and California couldn’t dim the love she felt for the Rio Grande Valley. Jessica says “You can take the girl out of the Rio Grande Valley, but you can never take the Valley out of the girl.” Responding to the desires of her heart, Jessica and family relocated to Austin, Texas in 2003.

Jessica pursued a Real Estate career during the housing bubble and with a combination of hard work and dedication, achieved success in her chosen profession. Jessica stays busy enjoying her Den Leader volunteer role in her church BSA Cub Scout Pack 192. She also actively home-schools her two children, and is an independent blogger.

Currently, Jessica is a political/news commentator on Stan Solomon’s Talk to Solomon Show which airs on cpnlive.com on Tuesdays at 6pm EST. She shares the commentating stage with the great minds of former Ambassador to the U.N. Dr. Alan Keyes, Economist Bob Chapman, Maj.Gen. Jerry Curry, and Larry Pratt among others.

As a Tea Party member, Jessica ran for Congress in 2010 because she saw the need for men and women of integrity to rise up and reclaim our country in the name of the principles and precepts upon which this great national was founded. She is dedicated to individual liberty and recognizes that public servants are just that – servants of the people.

Jessica’s life work is not that of a career politician. Her involvement in politics is fueled by her desire to find solutions to problems, work with and serve the people in her community.