Lupe Valdez

Valdez tells crowd: I am the candidate of the everyday Texan

From staff reports

Tuesday’s primary runoff elections provided for some really big wins for LGBT and progressive candidates around Texas and the rest of the country. In one of the most watched races anywhere, former Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez defeated Andrew White, son of former Gov. Mark White, to become the first openly lesbian Latina candidate to win a major party endorsement for governor in Texas — or any other state, for that matter.

Burch with family

In other closely-watched races, lesbian attorney Lorie Burch won the Democratic nomination to face Republican Van Taylor in the race for U.S. House District 3 in November. Incumbent Rep. Sam Johnson is retiring.

Lesbian candidate Gina Ortiz Jones beat Rick Trevino and will face incumbent Will Hurd in November for the District 23 seat in the U.S. House.

And in the U.S. House District 27 Democratic runoff, gay candidate Eric Holguin beat Rick Barrera and will face Republican runoff winner Michael Cloud in November.

In the Democratic runoff in state Senate District 17, lesbian candidate Fran Watson fell to Rita Lucido.

While LGBT candidates in many runoffs were claiming victory on election night, far-right candidates were not faring as well. According to the Texas Tribune, in runoffs featuring centrist Republicans against far-right, Tea Party-aligned candidates backed by conservative groups like Empower Texans and Texas Right to Life, voters backed the more centrist candidates — by well over 10 percent in most cases.

That included the Republican Primary race to replace outgoing House Speaker Joe Straus, a champion of moderation in the last few legislative sessions who helped defeat anti-transgender bathroom bills last year. Moderate Steve Allison, who had Straus’ endorsement, beat far-right candidate Matt Beebe.

And here in Dallas County, Vickers “Vic” Cunningham — who made headlines when his gay brother went to the Dallas Morning News with allegations that Cunningham was a racist and a homophobe who had established a trust with requirements that his children marry only white, Christian, opposite-gender spouses or be cut out of their inheritance — lost his bid for a seat on the commissioners court to attorney J.J. Koch by 25 votes.

The Morning News, which ran the story on Cunningham on the last day of early voting, also withdrew its endorsement of him after he acknowledged that allegations about his trust were true.

“I think it’s pretty clear that, at least on the Democratic side, the progressives have done pretty well this cycle,” Jay Narey, state president of the Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus and state Democratic Executive Committee member. “Lupe’s race was a classic example of that.”

Noting the overwhelming victories by moderate and center-right Republicans over far-right candidates — which mirrored results in the March primary balloting — Narey said, “It’s a bit of a push back to the far-right wing of the Republican Party, and that’s good to see. It will be interesting to see what happens in the congressional races in November.”

Narey said he is “cautiously optimistic” about chances for Democrats to take control of the U.S. House in November mid-terms, pointing to Colin Allred’s campaign to unseat Republican incumbent Pete Sessions in 32nd Congressional District as “a key race to watch.” Allred is not LGBT but has pledged support to the community and was endorsed by Stonewall Democrats of Dallas.

Eric Holguin

“The key will be those critical suburban swing districts” along the east coast. “Pennsylvania will play a big role. But we could pick up some seats in the South, too, Pete Sessions’ district being one of them, since Hillary Clinton carried that district in 2016,” Narey said.

The U.S. Senate “will be hard to take over, but that remains a possibility,” he added. “Anything could happen in the next several months. Mueller could come out with some indictments — who knows what will happen.”

Narey said he is “slightly optimistic” in regards to Texas House races, but that he was glad to see that the “Joe Strauss wing” of the Texas Republican Party did very well, and they will be the ones choosing the next person to hold the critical position of House Speaker.

“Greg Abbott and Dan Patrick wanted their right-wing candidates to win those races, and they didn’t,” Narey said. “That means we have a better chance of getting someone as speaker who is at least pseudo-rational.”

Candidates speak
In her acceptance speech for the Democratic nomination for governor, Valdez called herself “the candidate of the everyday Texan.”

She described her childhood growing up in the poorest neighborhood in San Antonio, but added, that she “got a quality education, had the honor of serving in the military, earned a living wage and got healthcare when I needed it.” That’s what she credits for giving her a fighting chance to get ahead in her life.

She acknowledged that, as everyone has told her, the race for governor will be an uphill battle. But added, “Please! Tell me when I didn’t have an uphill battle.”

Gina Orti

After polling 20 points higher than second-place finisher Andrew White in the primary, Valdez won the runoff by just six points. Throughout the evening, the lead moved back and forth, but Houston, White’s hometown and stronghold, reported votes early and Valdez’s hometown Dallas reported much more slowly. Returns from Brownsville and El Paso also came in slowly.

As more tallies rolled in, news organizations declared her the winner before 10 p.m., just in time for the evening news.

Lorie Burch told Dallas Voice that she and her team are “overjoyed” with the runoff results. “I am very excited for the opportunity to continue connecting with voters and building our campaign’s momentum for November.

She acknowledged that District 3 has been pretty solidly Republican in the past. “If we are going to win in November, we will need to inspire individuals in our community to participate — by volunteering their time and talents, and by getting to the ballot box,” she said. “I’ve been a Collin County voter my whole life, and I know that our ballots don’t have a lot of choices. As a result, people feel unrepresented and choose to stay home. We need to reach out and let them know they have choices.”

Burch said that Collin County voters “are fortunate to have some incredible Democratic candidates who have already built strong grassroots campaigns.” She said she is proud to know these other candidates and “excited for our teams to continue to work together to build a better Collin County. Working together is going to be simple — with our teams working toward the same goal, we’ll be able to cover a lot more ground than any single campaign could cover alone.”

 

 

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Election News Roundup

Lisa Keen | Keen News Service
LisaKeen@mac.com

ARKANSAS
In a dramatic comeback story, Tippi McCullough won the Democratic nomination for a House seat in the Arkansas Legislature this week, just five years after being forced to resign from her private school teaching job in Little Rock because she married a woman.
Because there is no Republican candidate competing for the seat representing the state’s most liberal district, the win sets up McCullough to become the first openly LGBT person to be elected to the Arkansas State House.

GEORGIA
Six openly LGBT candidates for the Georgia state House have advanced to the general election. Five of them ran unopposed for their Democratic nominations. Two other candidates lost, but one incumbent, State Rep. Park Cannon, breezed to the nomination for re-election to her House seat representing the Atlanta area.
An openly gay candidate for mayor of Athens, Richie Knight, lost his bid for the Democratic nomination, garnering only 10 percent of the vote in a three-way race.

KENTUCKY
An openly gay candidate for the State House, Josh Mers, lost his bid for the Democratic nomination to represent the Lexington-Fayette district.
Jim Gray, the popular openly gay mayor of Lexington, was beat out for the Democratic nomination for a U.S. House seat. His opponent was a newcomer to politics and to the state: a retired military fighter pilot, Amy McGrath.
Gray, who had been considered the frontrunner for months, won only 41 percent of the vote. Republicans have already started calling McGrath, who sports a tough military-like demeanor, as a “radical liberal.”
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