President Barack Obama
Former President Barack Obama surprised a number Texas Democrats with his endorsement this morning (Monday, Aug. 3). Among those he endorsed are two members of the Texas House LGBT Caucus: Jessica Gonzalez of Dallas and Erin Zwiener of Driftwood.
Zwiener expressed her surprise at the endorsement on Twitter: “Well this is quite a surprise for the morning!” she tweeted. “Thank you @BarackObama for acknowledging the importance of the Texas House, and I’m honored to have your endorsement!”
Obama’s other endorsements included Wendy Davis, who’s running for a central Texas congressional seat, and LGBT candidate Gina Ortiz Jones, who is running to replace Rep. Will Hurd in West Texas. In the 2018 election, Jones came within a few hundred votes of beating Hurd. Locally, Obama also endorsed Rep. Colin Allred of Dallas for re-election and Candace Valenzuela to replace Rep. Kenny Marchant.
In Texas House of Representatives races, Obama endorsed Joanna Catternach and Brandy Chambers to replace the only two Dallas County seats currently held by Republicans. He also endorsed the re-election of local incumbents Terry Meza and Rhetta Andrews Bowers.
In a race considered important for Democrats to retake the Texas House, Obama endorsed lesbian Ann Johnson over incumbent Republican Sarah Davis to represent Houston’s Westheimer gayborhood. Davis has the best record on LGBT issues among House Republicans and has endorsed Jessica Gonzalez’s proposed omnibus nondiscrimination bill.
— David Taffet
