Game On! Primary Runoff Sets Final Midterm Battle Lines
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas
This is the Progress Texas Daily Dispatch, delivered every weekday by Progress Texas Communications Director Chris Mosser. Rapid response on the breaking news stories Texas progressives need to know—all in less than 10 minutes!
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Midterm Contests Are Set…As Old Republican Party Dies
Last night’s defeat of Senator John Cornyn by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Republican primary runoff for Senate feels like a moment of clarity from several different angles—first and foremost, for me, is the idea that the Republican party of Reagan and Bush and McCain is pretty much officially dead.
Almost 886 thousand Texas Republicans decided that Ken Paxton, representing the new vanguard of truly ethics-free and lawless baseline conduct—fraud, and abuse of office, and impeachment, and wanton, public adultery all now fair game in both governmental practice and personal behavior, all in the name and image of Donald Trump—were preferable to the last, wispy echoes of that old Reagan guard…for whom it was all about money, big business and power, don’t get me wrong, but there was still at least a facade of decency.
Paxton cleaned Cornyn’s clock last night—almost 64% of the Republican runoff vote— with a little over 500 thousand of those voters trying to cling to the old days in the face of a tsunami of hostility and grievance represented by the MAGA movement. We’re thinking about those folks this morning—Cornyn voters—who are possibly now looking for a new place for themselves in the politics of Texas. Chances are, you know some of these people, and their faces are popping to mind right now. Today is perhaps a good day to place a call or pop by, and have a talk about the importance of steadying and improving our democratic institutions, repairing and strengthening our international alliances with other democracies, and restoring meaning to the rule of law.
Talarico Takes Point In Charge Against MAGA
Ken Paxton is officially the opponent of Democratic Senate nominee and State Rep. James Talarico who, regardless of theories about his dietary choices, is likely just as dismayed at the price of brisket as you and I are. The Paxton win feels like a gift, but it also serves as a dire warning: most of our opposition is not coming around, and in fact most of them are more dug in than ever in opposing that basic decency we’ve been talking about this morning. The Texas right wing lunatic fringe will fight hard and they will fight dirty over the next 160 days, and they will show up en masse on November 3.
That said, if the fight against MAGA over the next five months is equally determined, there’s every reason to be optimistic. J. David Goodman and Lauren McGaughy at the New York Times are saying that mainstream Republican operatives openly admit Paxton’s presence at the top of the fall Republican ballot will be a boat anchor for independent voters, and women, and those aforementioned traditional institutionalist Republicans you’ve been thinking about. While these disaffected Cornyn voters might be unlikely to cross party lines and actually push a button for James Talarico, too many of those voters opting out altogether is the real danger that the Paxton/Abbott/Trump GOP faces this fall.
Other Key Results Across Texas
Moving through the rest of the runoff results:
The race for Texas Attorney General had runoffs on both sides.For the Democrats, Dallas State Senator Nathan Johnson scored a decisive win over challenger and former Galveston Mayor Joe Jaworski, with over 60% of the vote. Johnson will be opposite fellow Texas State Senator “MAGA” Mayes Middleton, who successfully purchased the Republican nomination and out-MAGA’d Congressman Chip Roy, who’s gotta be rethinking his choices this morning.
For Lt. Governor, State Rep. and Progress Texas endorsee Vikki Goodwin secures the Democratic nomination to face Dan Patrick, pulling in close to 68% over Houston union leader Marcos Velez. Congrats to Rep. Goodwin and her team. (There was a spot of late-breaking controversy in that race.)
Congratulations also to Congressman and Progress Texas endorsee Christian Menefee, who also won decisively over his runoff opponent and fellow congressman Al Green, just shy of 70% of the vote in a race that was very much about generational priorities, given the recent history of CD 18.
An even more massive (but honestly, less surprising) win for Kevin Burge in CD 24. He’s also a Progress Texas endorsee and took that race with over 78% of the vote. Kevin Burge now faces a much tougher test against Republican Congresswoman Beth Van Duyne.
Closer but nonetheless convincing, Democratic voters in CD 33 chose former Congressman Colin Allred over CD 32 incumbent Congresswoman Julie Johnson. Allred is now poised to replace the lawmaker who replaced him in D.C.
The CD 35 race in South Texas got a lot of press due to a highly flawed Democratic frontrunner in Maureen Galindo, but luckily enough Democrats down there saw the light and voted instead for Progress Texas endorsee Johnny Garcia, who took that race by almost 64%. Let’s note that over 7,000 South Texas Democrats, despite a national uproar, still showed up and voted for Galindo, and that about 6,000 more Republican votes went to Garcia’s November opponent Carlos De La Cruz, brother of South Texas Congresswoman Monica De La Cruz. That’s gonna be a hot one to watch.
At the state House level, Progress Texas endorsee and Dallas State Rep. Venton Jones coasted to an over 83% victory.
And the last of our seven endorsements in the runoff ends in a massive upset victory for former Houston City Council member Letitia Plummer. From Ahmed Humble at the Houston Chronicle and just announced early this morning, Plummer has defeated former Houston Mayor Annise Parker in the Democratic runoff for Harris County judge. That was a nail biter and less than three points deciding.
And finally—and yes, perhaps a hair spitefully—almost definitely reconsidering his life choices this morning is mustache farmer and Republican Deer Park State Rep. Briscoe Cain, who was soundly trounced by his Trump-endorsed opponent Alex Mealer in the CD 9 race.
The Real Battle Begins Now!
For the progressives and Democrats who ended up on the winning side of any of these races, we hope you’ll revel in the thrill of victory and redouble your efforts to experience that same thrill this fall. The real game, for the real marbles, begins now. Here at Progress Texas, we’re in it for the long haul—and we hope you’ll stick with us! A lot of ground to cover, and a lot of Texan hearts and minds to win over the next five months—it’s gonna go by fast, so don’t waste any time. Let’s get going right now! This is gonna be a fun one.
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I’m Chris Mosser, thanks for reading, and we’ll see you later.