Democrat Leticia Gutierrez is known as an advocate for clean air and stricter regulations in greater Houston. Her Republican challenger, Alex Mealer, has ties to oil and gas.By Lauren NutallIn 2016, current Democratic candidate for Congress Leticia Gutierrez lived six miles from a refinery owned by the Brazilian oil company Petrobras in Pasadena, part of the greater Houston area. The plant accrued thousands of dollars in fines from the Texas Commission on Environment Quality for violations including the release of dangerous air pollutants like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides that coated the significantly Hispanic area bordering the plant, where Gutierrez and her two children lived.