We're just going to take candidates' "Progressive" self-descriptions at face value, despite any misgivings we may have expressed about these candidates progressive credentials. None of the identifiably progressive candidates won their races outright, but some will appear in the runoffs on 22 May. Others will have to be content with participation medals.
Obligatory/Reflexive Reminder: If you skipped the primaries (or even if you didn't), you can still help with the Green Party's Ballot Access Petition Drive. Down the petition sheet (PDF), print it out on legal-size paper, and collect signatures from primary non-voters around you.
Primary abstainers may also attend the Green Party's precinct and county conventions, 13 and 17 March respectively. Location information is still not confirmed, so for now I recommend just making your way to the Midtown Bar & Grill, 415 West Gray Avenue, on Tuesday night.
Obligatory/Reflexive Reminder: If you skipped the primaries (or even if you didn't), you can still help with the Green Party's Ballot Access Petition Drive. Down the petition sheet (PDF), print it out on legal-size paper, and collect signatures from primary non-voters around you.
Primary abstainers may also attend the Green Party's precinct and county conventions, 13 and 17 March respectively. Location information is still not confirmed, so for now I recommend just making your way to the Midtown Bar & Grill, 415 West Gray Avenue, on Tuesday night.
Here are the current numbers, not completely finalized or official as of this writing, from the Office of the Secretary of State for the 2018 Democratic Primary. Here are the Democratic Primary vote totals for Harris County, in your choice of PDF or HTML. (The URLs for those links are subject to change.) And below is my snap analysis of some of those numbers. The runoff election is scheduled for 22 May, just before ballot access petitions are due for the Greens and any other minor parties.
Sorry, we're not providing links to candidates' websites here, because there are so many. Look 'em up.
US Senator
For having no name recognition and very little money, Democratic Socialist Sema Hernandez's 23.71% showing against Rep. Robert O'Rourke isn't too shabby. Her percentage for Harris County was slightly lower, as was O'Rourke's; who knew that this was (Edward) Kimbrough Country? Hernandez's recent tweets indicate that she has caught the political bug something fierce and will likely run for some office in 2020—perhaps even the nomination to challenge Sen. John Cornyn.
US House
Four of the races highlighted below are for seats representing portions Greater Houston, and three of them (Districts 2, 7, and 29) lie entirely within Harris County. The other (27) features a former Houston-area resident.
Governor
Cannabis-legalization advocate Tom Wakely got lost in a field of nine, with the two most widely recognized names proceeding to the runoff: former Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez and Son of a Recently Deceased Former Governor Andrew White. They received 42.89% and 27.38%, respectively. It will be interesting to see whether runoff voters will pick the pro-life White to challenge incumbent Governor Greg Abbott, perhaps casting a strategic vote in light of filibuster star Wendy Davis's underwhelming run in 2014.
I do love this quote from the Houston Chronicle's article on the gubernatorial primary:
Sorry, we're not providing links to candidates' websites here, because there are so many. Look 'em up.
US Senator
For having no name recognition and very little money, Democratic Socialist Sema Hernandez's 23.71% showing against Rep. Robert O'Rourke isn't too shabby. Her percentage for Harris County was slightly lower, as was O'Rourke's; who knew that this was (Edward) Kimbrough Country? Hernandez's recent tweets indicate that she has caught the political bug something fierce and will likely run for some office in 2020—perhaps even the nomination to challenge Sen. John Cornyn.
US House
Four of the races highlighted below are for seats representing portions Greater Houston, and three of them (Districts 2, 7, and 29) lie entirely within Harris County. The other (27) features a former Houston-area resident.
- TX-2: Ali Khorasani, who gave an impressive elevator speech at the January Our Revolution meeting, finished last out of five candidates. Winner Todd Litton narrowly escaped a runoff in this tortuously drawn district.
- TX-7: PDiddy's endorsee and DCCC target Laura Moser earned a runoff with Lizzie Pannill Fletcher, both leading the pack of seven candidates with less than 30%. Schoolteacher Ivan Sanchez pulled a respectable 5.69%, again for having no name recognition and little funding. Three-time nominee James Cargas saw the proverbial writing on the wall and did not campaign very strenuously this year; his 2% polling reflected that.
- TX-27: One-time Occupier and 2012 Green Party nominee Vanessa Edwards Foster finished third in a field of four for this Corpus Christi–area seat. Democratic turnout was light in this district. Raul (Roy) Barrera and Eric Holguin will vie in the runoff for a chance to turn 27 blue post–Blake Farenthold.
- TX-29: I didn't see any flaming Progressives in this race, but Sylvia Garcia is well on her way to becoming the first Latina Congressmember from Texas, so there's that.
- TX-36: Beloved rock-jock Dayna Steele handily defeated Jon Powell for a chance to run against incumbent Brian Babin in the district that extends from Clear Lake City to the Golden Triangle. Steele is on record as favoring Universal Health Care, among other progressive positions.
Governor
Cannabis-legalization advocate Tom Wakely got lost in a field of nine, with the two most widely recognized names proceeding to the runoff: former Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez and Son of a Recently Deceased Former Governor Andrew White. They received 42.89% and 27.38%, respectively. It will be interesting to see whether runoff voters will pick the pro-life White to challenge incumbent Governor Greg Abbott, perhaps casting a strategic vote in light of filibuster star Wendy Davis's underwhelming run in 2014.
I do love this quote from the Houston Chronicle's article on the gubernatorial primary:
At his election-night party at Houston’s Raven Tower, a hipster bar north of the downtown, White likened his campaign to “a Davis [sic] versus Goliath fight — “and remember, David won that fight.”
LOL Valdez = Goliath, or even the mere suggestion that the Texas Democratic establishment is Goliath-esque. I assume that the "Davis versus Goliath" reference is an editorial boo-boo, not a Freudian slip on White's part.
Also, to be fair, the cannabis issue is far from Wakely's only progressive plank, but it was the one position that distinguishes him from all the other candidates.
State Senate
Following a three-way race in SD17, Fran Watson will face top vote-getter Rita Lucido in the runoff. District 17 extends from Southwest Houston to portions of Fort Bend and Brazoria Counties. My comrade David Courtney has run there twice as a Green.
State House
LGBT activist Jenifer Rene Pool made a fairly close contest of it in HD138, pulling 43.36% with light turnout. This district includes parts of Spring Branch and far-west Houston.
Also, to be fair, the cannabis issue is far from Wakely's only progressive plank, but it was the one position that distinguishes him from all the other candidates.
State Senate
Following a three-way race in SD17, Fran Watson will face top vote-getter Rita Lucido in the runoff. District 17 extends from Southwest Houston to portions of Fort Bend and Brazoria Counties. My comrade David Courtney has run there twice as a Green.
State House
LGBT activist Jenifer Rene Pool made a fairly close contest of it in HD138, pulling 43.36% with light turnout. This district includes parts of Spring Branch and far-west Houston.
RSS Feed