Can Progressives Win In Hidalgo County?
Hidalgo County voters have already shown signs they’re ready for change.
Remember last week, when I said that the primary results showed where progressive movements were strong around the state and where they were still struggling? HD41 is in a border county, Hidalgo County, and we have a lot of reasons to worry about the ideological leanings of border Democrats. However, in the HD41 race, progressives have a real shot at real, meaningful change to their community with Julio Salinas.
The other candidate, Seby Haddad, has been accused of pandering to the local right-wing by Salinas and the losing candidate, Eric Holguin. Haddad also received the endorsement from the retiring Conservative Democrat.
Here was how the votes landed in the primary:
Salinas was the obvious frontrunner, but no one reached the 50.01% threshold.
Here was the interesting thing about this race. Salinas was the unapolegetic progressive, Haddad was the typical border Conservative, and Holguin was the establishment liberal.
Runoff turnout will be less than the primary. That’s just the nature of the game. Not only will the key to winning for Salinas and Haddad be getting their voters to come out again, which they were already very close to doing, but they also have to try to win over Holguin’s voters.
Which way will Holguin voters go?
In the last weeks of the election, the Holguin campaign went pretty hard on the Haddad campaign. However, I’ve looked through his social media, and unless I’ve overlooked anything, I don’t see any of his posts explicitly endorsing Salinas. (Please email me if I’m wrong.)
Holguin’s endorsement could go a long way in this situation. Check out the reporting from JC FRIAS REAL TALK during the primary regarding Hadadd’s Republican record:
What Salinas is offering the Valley is a completely different set of priorities.
For decades, politics in the Rio Grande Valley has followed the same script. A conservative Democrat wins the primary, goes to Austin, keeps their head down, and votes with Republican leadership often enough to avoid rocking the boat. Local politicians talk about business opportunities while the cost of living rises, wages stagnate, hospitals struggle, and the Valley keeps getting shortchanged by the state.
Julio Salinas is running on the idea that the Valley deserves the same economic dignity and investment as every other part of Texas.
That means supporting stronger labor protections so that work actually pays, expanding Medicaid so families can afford healthcare, fully funding public schools instead of draining them with vouchers, and finally investing in flood-control infrastructure that Valley communities have been begging for.
He’s also focused on strengthening small businesses, improving public transit in cities like McAllen and Edinburg, and protecting cross-border commerce, which is one of the Valley’s biggest economic engines.
In other words, instead of business as usual, Salinas is running on the idea that Austin should actually start working for the Rio Grande Valley.
Will Hidalgo County vote for Julio Salinas?
He came in first place in the primary, so they voted for him once.
I wanted to show you some other results from Hidalgo County that I thought were interesting. First, even though we know Henry Cuellar won re-election, he lost in Hidalgo County.
Another race that stood out to me was the Lt. Governor’s race, Marcos Velez taking a big lead in this county.
Hidalgo County voters have already shown they’re willing to break with the political establishment. Salinas finished first in the primary, which means voters already chose him once. But the broader results from Hidalgo County suggest something even more interesting. The electorate here isn’t automatically lining up behind the traditional power structure.
Hidalgo County voters are showing a clear willingness to support candidates who are running against the political status quo.
If that pattern holds in the runoff, it could be very good news for Julio Salinas.
That’s how Salinas should be positioning himself.
Check out this interview with Salinas and LUPE Votes. He’s leaning heavily into a populist message about affordability and working-class opportunity in the Valley.
He also frequently discusses infrastructure issues specific to the Rio Grande Valley, including flooding, drainage systems, water access, and transportation investments. In the interview, he even floated the idea of a high-speed rail corridor connecting South Texas to San Antonio and Monterrey as a long-term economic development project.
Throughout the conversation, he repeatedly returns to the Valley’s economic system, which used to work for working-class families but doesn’t anymore.
That’s exactly the kind of message that could resonate with Hidalgo County voters who have already shown some willingness to break with the traditional political establishment.
The question now is whether that message can carry him across the finish line in the runoff. I think it can.
That’s why Lone Star Left endorsed Julios Salinas for HD41 in the Democratic primary, and why I continue to support him throughout this runoff.
You can learn more about Julio Salinas on his website, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
If you’re in Hidalgo County, you can volunteer here.
And if you have some extra change, you can donate here.
When we finally get a progressive legislature, it will be because candidates like Julio Salinas have proved that working-class politics can win in every corner of Texas.
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I met him at the Padre SDEC meeting. He is great! You have really turned me into a true progressive.
I think Salinas is a harbinger of a potential major political realignment in Texas and nationally. People getting pushed to the wall economically while the plutocrats gleefully and openly rape the economy. The authoritarian project at core is an attempt to lock in plutocratic control of the economy in perpetuity.
If the Democrats can recognize (a big if) and seize the moment, we could witness something equivalent to FDR's first POTUS election in 1932. Let's make it so/