Talarico, and Hinojosa, and Eckhardt! Oh my!
A wild primary night, a few runoffs, and a lot of numbers still rolling in.
As you all have surely heard by now, James Talarico has won the Democratic primary for US Senate against Jasmine Crockett, who graciously conceded this morning.
While this particular race has been one of the ugliest Democratic primaries in recent Texas history, I, for one, am glad it’s over. When Crockett joined the race in the last week of filing, she asked Talarico to step aside. Her supporters told me directly that it was a mistake because the money he would have set on fire would have been nothing compared to what she would have raised.
The final fundraising numbers were Talarico at $20 million and Crockett at $8 million.
And the reason that is so impressive is that Talarico hasn’t taken a dime of corporate PAC money.
We’ll have plenty more time this week to analyze it and talk about this race, and the number one issue everyone seems to be missing about it is “class solidarity.” But before we move on, it’s important to say something about Jasmine Crockett. She is one of the most talented communicators the Texas Democratic Party has right now. Anyone who has watched her question witnesses in Congress or go toe-to-toe with Republicans knows she brings a sharp mind, a fearless voice, and real passion to the fight.
Texas Democrats are lucky to have her. I sincerely hope this isn’t the last statewide race we see her in. If she chooses to run again, she will have many people ready to support her.
And depending on how things shake out in TX-33, there may be another opportunity sooner rather than later. Colin Allred and Julie Johnson are headed to a runoff for that seat, and politics has a funny way of reshuffling the deck. 2028 isn’t that far away.
But as we know, there were other races.
The funniest race of the night is the Republican Senate primary. Cornyn and Paxton, nearly tied, are off to a runoff. Two more months of Republican infighting is music to my ears.
Gina Hinojosa won the Governor’s primary race outright, with no primary. Just as I predicted, she’ll face Abbott in November.
As of writing this (3/4 -10:30 am), AG’s race on the Democratic side hasn’t been called. Although Nathan Johnson has a cushy lead, it may wind up in a runoff as well. On the Republican side, Magot Mayes Middleton and Chip Roy are going to a runoff.
The Comptroller’s race, my endorsement didn’t fare so well, but Sarah Eckhardt (D) is a solid progressive who ran away with the nomination and will serve us all well. A week before early voting started, Don Huffines (R) was outed as buying up Epstein property where bodies were buried. So, Republicans made him their pick for Comptroller.
Dan Patrick won his primary. On the Democratic side, votes are still being counted this morning, and it may wind up in a runoff.
Benjamin Flores won the Democratic primary for Land Commissioner.
Jim Wright and Bo French are going into a runoff in the Republican primary for Railroad Commissioner. I’m actually really looking forward to those debates, because all the moderators have to do to stump Bo French is ask him how to spell “oil.”
Haha, this one is funny. Sid Miller (Agriculture Commissioner) lost his primary. And he isn’t the only Republican incumbent outed last night. Steve Toth beat Dan Crenshaw in TX02, which is hilarious because Toth isn’t even literate. And Cecil Bell lost his primary in HD03 to someone whose ideology looks pretty much the same. Same with Stan Kitzman in HD85.
I’ve updated my lists and will continue to update them as results come in, and these will remain at the bottom of each article:
Congressional runoffs.
There are still a few races that haven’t been called, so check back to those lists ⬆️ later, or tomorrow, I’ll update them after every single race is finished counting.
TX01:
Yolanda Prince (D)
Dax Alexander (D)
TX05:
Chelsey Hockett (D)
Ruth Torres (D)
TX09:
Alex Mealer (R)
Briscoe Cain (R)
TX14:
Richard Davis (D)
Thurman Bill Bartie (D)
TX16 - There’s a Republican runoff here, but it’s a safe blue district. So, we don’t care.
TX17:
Milah Flores (D)
Casey Shepard (D)
TX18:
*Christian Menefee (D)
Al Green (D)
TX23:
*Tony Gonzalez (R)
Brandon Herrera (R)
TX30 - There’s a Republican runoff here, but it’s a safe blue district. So, again, we don’t care.
TX35:
Maureen Galindo (D)
Johnny Garcia (D)
John Lujan (R)
Carlos De La Cruz (R)
These districts are still being counted this morning and may wind up in a runoff: TX24 (D), TX33 (D), and TX38 (D).
The biggest disappointments from the Congressional races were that both Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez won their primaries. Like, have we learned nothing, South Texas?
Legislative runoffs.
Again, some races are still being counted. Check my lists later for updates.
HD40:
Celeste Cabrera-Huff (R)
Nehemías Gómez (R)
HD41:
Julio Salinas (D)
Seby Haddad (D)
Sergio Sánchez (R)
Gary Groves (R)
HD49:
Montserrat Garibay (D)
Kathie Tovo (D)
HD97:
Diane Symons (D)
Beth Llewellyn McLaughlin (D)
HD125:
Adrian Reyna (D)
Michelle Barrientes Vela (D)
HD131:
Staci Childs (D)
Lawrence Allen JR (D)
HD149:
*Hubert Vo (D)
Darlene Breaux (D)
Here are the races that are still being counted this morning that may wind up in a runoff: HD37 (D), HD100 (D), HD126 (R), and HD142 (D).
We should know by the end of today who all of the winners are.
How did my endorsements do?
Meh. It could have been better. Some of them did very well.
Lone Star Left’s Congressional endorsements:
4 wins
2 runoffs
8 losses
This is always the risk when you’re endorsing the MOST progressive candidate in each race.
Lone Star Left’s Legislative endorsements:
8 wins
6 runoffs
6 loss
I’m counting the races that are still being counted and “may wind up as a runoff” in the runoff bucket. But maybe I’m just better at the legislative picks.
The biggest surprise for me is my district, HD101. Long-time incumbent Chris Turner has seemingly lost to a much younger, up-and-coming progressive, Junior Ezeonu.
I knew it would be close, but I thought Turner’s experience would carry him over. Congratulations to Ezeonu, who definitely fought a hard campaign.
And that’s where things stand this morning.
There are still ballots being counted in several races, a handful of runoffs to sort through, and a lot of data to sift through. Turnout numbers, fundraising patterns, geographic splits, coalition dynamics, all of it tells a story, and we’re only just starting to see the outline of it.
Over the next few days, I’ll be digging through the numbers, precinct results, and fundraising reports. But it’s safe to say that the Senate primary between James Talarico and Jasmine Crockett is going to dominate the conversation for a while. It wasn’t just a race between two candidates. It exposed deeper tensions within the Texas Democratic coalition, about class, money in politics, messaging, and the party's future direction.
That’s where the “class solidarity” conversation comes in, and we’re going to talk about that a lot.
So expect a few more articles from me this week unpacking the results, the data, and what it all means heading into November. I’ll keep updating the ballot lists as final results come in, and we’ll take a closer look at the runoffs, the turnout numbers, and the surprises from last night.
For now, though, the dust is still settling.
And Texas politics never stays quiet for long.
Click here to find out what Legislative districts you’re in.
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I am sorry to see so many calling the race for the U.S. Senate in TX racist or misogynistic. This is about defeating the Christian Nationalists. Chuck Todd says that Jasmine Crockett did really well. It is very difficult for a member of Congress to win statewide. She can run against Ted Cruz. Unite!
Very disappointed in your comments about James. This is the problem with Dems They do not stick, together!