Tea Party activist Katrina Pierson is running for Congress in Texas and wants to oust incumbent Republican Pete Sessions in the GOP primary. We asked Katrina some questions about her campaign and why she believes Sessions - who has been in office since 1997 - needs to be sent into retirement.

The challenge is probably not a welcome one by Speaker Boehner and company who don’t believe incumbents should be challenged. I don’t believe political seats should be for life, but I also see the need for occasionally, and enthusiastically, backing candidates conservatives often disagree with. (Scott Brown’s possible US Senate New Hampshire campaign comes to mind as he currently seems to be the best shot to force the Democrats waste a lot of resources).

The 32nd Congressional District in Texas is a fairly safe Republican seat. Sessions won re-election by 19 points in 2012, while Mitt Romney carried the district of President Obama by 16 points. So here, the primary winner will likely win the general election either way and the loss of the seat is not really a major concern. So we say let the best candidate win. Primaries are good. They keep politicians honest and it holds them accountable to their constituents. Pierson has already picked up the backing of Michelle Malkin and Rafael Cruz, the father of Ted Cruz who has become a bit of a rock-star himself. We wouldn’t be shocked to see some more big endorsements coming her way in the next few months and anything can happen.

Q&A With Katrina Pierson, 2014 Congressional Candidate

Texas Tea Party Republican Set to Challenge GOP Incumbent

Republican Party bosses seem to have little tolerance for conservatives challenging incumbents in a primary. But tea party activist Katrina Pierson is doing just that in the 32nd Congressional District in Texas and has picked up the backing of Michelle Malkin, FreedomWorks, and Rafael Cruz (father of US Senator Ted Cruz). We asked Pierson about her campaign, why Sessions needs to be challenged, and what her priorities in congress would be.

When we first ask Pierson why Sessions should be replaced, we quickly get three documents answering that question. A political scorecard from conservative think-tank FreedomWorks shows a sharp drop in their rating of the candidate’s votes over the last decade. A second document highlights some of those votes, including some in favor of debt-limit increases and in opposition to eliminating unnecessary government agencies that soak up tax dollars.

But the main document offers something many might not expect: an acknowledgement that Sessions’ general voting record is fairly solid, and that he is not a “RINO.” Though they highlight Sessions’ worsening voting record, their opposition to Sessions grows from two other key areas. First up is his performance as the powerful Chairman of the House Rules Committee where Sessions “controls what goes to the floor of the U.S. House for a vote and what doesn’t.

 If a bill is going to the floor, Sessions controls when it goes and under what conditions.” His actions on Amnesty defunding Obamacare, and his refusal to support a Select Committee for the Benghazi scandal are major points of contention. Second, “Sessions’ unwavering support for Speaker Boehner” is the other problem as the congressman has put his full faith behind the House Leadership despite single-digit approval ratings and their inability to effectively negotiate and to get conservative legislation signed into law.

We asked Katrina a few other questions about her campaign as well.

Dustin Hawkins: The Republican Party leadership seems to believe that political seats are for life and that incumbents should never be challenged, no matter how liberal or Democrat-lite they may be. What do you have to say about that line of thinking?

Katrina Pierson : The greatest threat to the people of the United States are career politicians.

DH: Did you grow up in a conservative household? When did you know that you were a conservative?

KP: No. I grew up on welfare to a teenage mother. I was born with a fire in the belly to do more and be more than society dictated for me. Eventually, I because the first to graduate college in my family and the first to break the poverty cycle. It wasn’t easy, but I appreciate my journey as it allows me to help and inspire others.

DH: What would your top three priorities be in the US Congress?

KP: Get the federal government out of public education, term limits, restoring the bill of rights in their entirety.

DH: Finally, if you and four other people could sit around and write all the laws in the country, who would those four other people be?

KP: Rep. Justin Amash, Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. Rand Paul, and Sen. Jim DeMint.

Katrina Pierson’s website has more information about her campaign.