Quality Control

Reform happens before November.

Gavin Newsom is at the height of his political career. Ben Shapiro’s career is in the toilet. Yet Newsom platformed Shapiro on his podcast yesterday, and it was bad. Think about where we are in this country right now, what’s happening in Minneapolis and here in Texas. Think about the threat of wars that the Oompa Loompa in the White House keeps promising. Think about your grocery prices.

During his podcast, Newsom backtracked on calling Renee Good’s killing “state-sponsored terrorism” and rejected claims that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. And just like that, the roars of “Gavin Newsom cannot be our 2028 pick” were loud once more.

The Conservatives are the bad guys. Focus on the Republicans.

Absolutely. In fact, who cares about Newsom? Even if he runs in 2028, do you realize we have FIVE elections here in Texas before then?

• March 2026 primaries

• November 2026 midterms

• May 2027 city/local municipal elections

• November 2027 Constitutional election

• March 2028 primaries again

And that’s if you don’t have any runoff elections. And if you don’t live in TX18 or SD09, because if you do, you have a special election on January 31.

We’re living in a world where one day the orange one will kidnap another country’s president, two days later, federal agents will murder an American citizen in broad daylight, and three days after that, the entire city will be under siege. Three years and five elections seem like an awful long time.

So, we focus on what’s in front of us. And right now, what’s in front of us is the March 3 Democratic primaries. Technically, there are also the Republican primaries, but you can expect the most horrible and unqualified to win those.

Among all of this chatter of Newsom platforming garbage, and the primaries only being 45 days away, the pleas of kindness toward corporate Democrats grow more vocal. It reminded me of something I heard Don Lemon say:

“Democrats don’t run against Democrats.” That’s the most liberal-based language on planet Earth. Democrats running against Democrats is literally the purpose of the entire primary election.

Texas has one of the earliest primary dates in America (of course, for voter suppression), so our state, along with a few others, will be the standard-bearer for whether Democrats see their own “Tea Party movement” within the Party, with progressives winning over moderates and the establishment.

Why do corporate Democrats need to be the focus right now?

The donor-friendly Democrats have been known to stall bold policies, water down priorities, and yet still be rewarded with campaign cash for their ambition. While the state is cracking down, prices are up, schools are under attack, and people are getting brutalized, we’re told to be nicer to the very politicians whose whole brand is “don’t ask too much.”

I don’t believe there’s a Lone Star Left reader who doesn’t know that Conservatives are the enemy (sorry, Republican spies, you don’t count). But in the primary, the question is who’s wearing the jersey while playing for the donors? That’s quality control.

We need bold progressives in office more than ever because the authoritarian creep is real and accelerating. Progressives actually target power, corporate price-gouging, monopoly control, wage theft, and the rigged tax structure.

People show up when someone is fighting for material improvements they can feel, like healthcare access, school funding, worker protections, housing relief, and reproductive freedom.

At this moment in history, bold progressives are the only version of “opposition” that actually functions, where the other side is trying to lock in power permanently.

Maybe you’re thinking, “But don’t we have any good progressives in office in Texas?”

Alas, we do.

Veronica Escobar, Joaquin Castro, and Greg Casar (especially Greg Casar) are good Congresspeople for Texas. None of them is in a competitive primary, and you should expect all three to win both in March and November.

But what about Congressman Al Green?

Al Green may be my favorite member of Congress. He has stood up for working people and civil rights for decades. Green has never backed down or taken no shit. I don’t think there’s a Democrat in Texas who can say something bad about his record.

This was Congressman Green yesterday at a press conference, tearing up a copy of the Houston Chronicle and accusing them of ageism after they published an opinion article calling for him to step down for the new generation of leaders.

The TX18 dilemma.

I didn’t want to say it at the time because we’re all rational and educated people. But after Sylvester Turner passed, I started wondering if TX18 was cursed. Because first there was Mickey Leeland, then Sheila Jackson Lee, then Turner, each dying in office in this historical Black seat. Maybe there’s some type of bad star alignment?

In reality, TX18 has a recurring pattern of high-profile, in-office deaths and abrupt vacancies that leave a majority-Black district without representation. That’s the curse. It’s the political consequence of a Black district while our state government is still held by white supremacists.

This district is stressed every time it’s forced to do a reset.

During his press conference, Congressman Green mentioned that his seniority is less than 50, and if he leaves Congress, that seniority leaves, too. In fact, his seniority would increase drastically next session, because many more senior members than he are finally stepping down, including Steny Hoyer, Nancy Pelosi, Jerry Nadler, and Texas’s own, Lloyd Doggett.

A lot of that relates to the voter base pushing back on what’s been perceived as a Democratic Gerentocracy, after several Democratic members of Congress have died in office in recent years.

25-year-old activist David Hogg has received a lot of pushback from the establishment for launching the org “Leaders We Deserve,” with the purpose of primarying establishment Democrats, including those who are old and out of touch.

Green, though, is neither out of touch nor part of the establishment. But he is 78-years-old. Christian Menefee is in his late-30s.

TX18 voters have had two elderly Congresspeople die and leave them without representation in the last few years. They’ll ultimately have to decide whether they’re willing to risk it a third time.

Menefee’s political positions are nearly identical to Green’s.

The other Congressional Democrats.

Lizze Fletcher (TX07) made it this year without a primary challenge, luckly her.

Lloyd Doggett (TX37) is retiring, paving the way for Greg Casar. Marc Veasey (TX33) is taking the next two years off, after some bad advice.

Julie Johnson (TX32) and Colin Allred are both after TX33. Lone Star Left has endorsed Zeeshan Hafeez for that seat. He’s scored some other big progressive endorsements, and the situation we think we’re looking at here is a runoff between Johnson and Hafeez. If that’s the case, he can win.

Vicente Gonzalez (TX34) is running for re-election. Lone Star Left has endorsed Etienne Rosas for this seat. This will be a much harder win for us because Gonzalez is deeply entrenched with Republicans and corporate donors. But if working people and Democrats show up to the primaries, Rosas has a good shot.

Sylvia Garcia (TX29) is running for re-election. Jarvis Johnson and another Democrat are running against her, but neither has come out explicitly in favor of universal healthcare (I’ll get to that in a minute).

Then there’s Henry Cuellar (TX28), who does have a few Democratic primary challengers. We’ll have to talk about this race later on, because even though the candidates against Cuellar aren’t as progressive ideologically as I would like, or as Lone Star Left readers would probably like, they are still better than Cuellar.

Which brings me to this point:

Last year I pledged that I would not be endorsing any Congressional cadidate that did not support Universal Healthcare.

More specifically, an end to the corrupt for-profit system.

I don’t see any Democrats in TX28 or TX29 who hold that position, and those are safe blue seats.

Universal healthcare is a mainstream position when you talk about it in terms of access and profits.

Further reading: A Democrat’s Guide To Discussing Universal Healthcare

In a state where people skip doctor visits to pay rent and crowd ERs because they can’t afford preventive care, refusing to back universal healthcare is neglect. Safe blue seats should lead on this issue in a post-Luigi Mangione world

A for-profit healthcare system kills people, ruins families, and pads corporate balance sheets. If a Democrat won’t commit to ending it in a safe blue seat, then what exactly are they protecting?

That doesn’t mean we let the seats turn red, but I just won’t be endorsing them.

Third parties?

In the last several months, I’ve been alerted that about a dozen progressives are running as Independents, and people have asked my thoughts or for coverage. And I have put a lot of thought into this, just like I’ve put a lot of thought into Left Reckoning’s role in Texas’ politics.

Then, I think about all the work that Clayton Tucker and the Texas Progressive Caucus put in. I think about what it took to get the Texas Democratic Party platform we got in 2024, arguably, the most progressive Democratic Party platform in America. I think about how Jasmine Crockett launched the Texas House Progressive Caucus and all the work that Ana-Maria Ramos and John Bryant have done to push a progressive agenda. And Kendall Scudder’s recent election, and how he’s finally got a candidate in every seat.

My message over the last several years is that Democrats have to embrace progressivism and urbanism in Texas if they really want to win. And this year, we’re seeing them do that. I’ve always argued for reform, and over the last year in the Texas Democratic Party, we’ve seen real reform.

On third-party candidates. I don’t doubt their sincerity, and I don’t doubt the urgency behind why they’re running. But in this moment, in this state, I believe giving them airtime would do the progressive movement a disservice.

Every gain we’ve made here has come through pressure, organizing, primaries, caucuses, and platform fights. From the Texas Democratic Party platform to the Progressive Caucuses to finally fielding candidates in every seat, progress has been slow and earned.

But I wanted to know what you think.

While national politics churns on a 24-hour cycle, real power is decided much closer to home, on much shorter timelines, by much smaller margins.

Texas is voting five times before 2028. And in most of those elections, apathy, donor control, and fear of confrontation inside the Democratic Party are the obstacles.

Primaries are where parties decide who they are. Safe seats are where values get tested. And progress only happens when people are willing to fight for it before November, not after.

If Democrats in Texas want to win, they can’t keep outsourcing courage to some future national figure. They have to build it here. In March. In these races. With candidates willing to take on real power and deliver material change.

That’s the work. Everything else is noise. Make a plan to vote on March 3. In fact, make a plan to early vote.

• February 2, 2026: Last Day to Register to Vote

• February 17, 2026: First Day to Early Vote

• March 3, 2026: Primary Election

• Who Will Be On The 2026 State Ballot?

• Who Will Be On The 2026 Federal Ballot?

• Click here to find out what Legislative districts you’re in.

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