The Primary Is Here And So Is The Drama

Dirty politics didn’t work last time. Why try again?

There are 19 days left until the primary ballot filing deadline in Texas, December 8th. Which really means absolutely nothing. We want people to file right now! We have no patience. We want to know that every seat has a candidate running. But candidates file whenever they do, because of fees or the days they schedule it, or because of whatever strategic reasons they think necessary.

But as both the Democratic and Republican primary tickets start to fill up, there are plenty of races I want to talk about, and I want to start with how Colin Allred is using dirty campaign tactics *once again.*

Last week, at TribFest, Allred called out Talarico for taking money from Miriam Adelson in the Texas House for casinos. And because there’s basically no nuance in politics, this gets twisted a million different ways, but at the end of the day, Allred is playing dirty politics, and I’ll explain why. Further, for my readers who weren’t following me during the 2024 primary, I’ll give you a recap of my history with Allred and how I know this was intentional.

Rewind to 2023.

Right around the time Allred was set to announce he was running for the Senate, I met him at a private event and asked him very specific policy questions about issues that were important to me. During his 2024 run, he took very Conservative positions, and I was ideologically the same as I am now regarding universal healthcare and expanding the Supreme Court.

Personally, I thought Allred was nice enough. He didn’t seem like an evil person or anything like that, but we weren’t ideologically aligned, so I endorsed his primary challenger, Roland Gutierrez, who I thought was more progressive.

I even made this picture (circa October 2024):

Allred won the primary, and I heard the rumblings of the leftward flanks sitting out of the election to “punish Democrats” on Gaza, on student loans, on the presidential primary process, and on other things. So, I encouraged those to vote for Allred in the general election. Because the choices were Colin Allred or Ted Cruz, and while ideologically, Allred might not be perfect, he was going against Ted Cruz, for crying out loud.

Allred called me and thanked me for telling people to vote for him over Ted Cruz. It was an awkward conversation. But I’d do it again, because the thing that leftists always get wrong is ignoring the importance of harm reduction.

And if, per chance, Allred won the primary this time around, I’d throw up, but I’d also vote for him, because otherwise, Ken Paxton will take his place, making decisions about my family’s life. And I’m a lot less okay with Ken Paxton.

Anyway, during the 2024 primary, Gutierrez said something regarding how there is still a culture of anti-Blackness within the Latino community, and he thought he would do well with that voting bloc. Well, the Allred campaign twisted to say Gutierrez was being racist by saying that. And Allred played dirty politics at that moment, with the press. Mothers Against Greg Abbott was attacked for supporting Gutierrez. I was attacked. It was an absurd situation, all drummed up by the Allred campaign.

That’s how I know that’s what this Mariam Adelson moment is.

Allred has constantly been attacked for his positions on Israel/Palestine, as well as for taking AIPAC money. He knows that Talarico was already questioned about the Adelson money in Politico weeks ago. And in fact, several Democrats took Adelson’s money, as it was being peddled for gambling/casino money, and NOTHING related to Israel.

It isn’t in the Texas Democratic Party platform (I’ve looked), so I thought I should write a case for legalizing gambling and casinos in Texas from a progressive perspective. I’m in favor of it, and I know a lot of other Democrats who are as well. Not only do I see this as a liberty issue, but also a missed opportunity for tax revenue.

What do you think?

But the reason Allred is trying to bring attention to Adelson’s specific donation to Talarico is because he knows her relationship to Israel and the far-right, not because of the original intent of this donation. It’s just inherently dishonest, and with so many people lacking context, it was done to frame Talarico in the same shady light that Allred stands in himself.

Talarico, in a recent statement, highlighted the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, quoting a theologian: “I screamed at God for the starving children until I realized the starving children was God screaming at me.” He also stated he will not accept campaign contributions from AIPAC.

I made a new picture.

We have a new star in a new race.

And I am not talking about the Senate race, either. Jose Loya just announced he’s running for Land Commissioner this morning, and I’ve already gotten several messages about this candidate, even though he doesn’t seem to be on a lot of social media platforms yet. Check him out:

The Land Commissioner was one race I was worried about because our current Land Commissioner is a MAGA bimbo who travels around the state shouting, “Drill, baby, drill,” and is only seen at black-tie affairs. Loya has an awesome campaign-launch video. Another solid statewide candidate for Democrats? Seems so.

We’re going to see a lot of competitive Democratic races this primary season, which I love. I updated these yesterday:

• 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.

If I have time, I will update them again tonight, but I wanted to add all of the missing websites and social media I can find either tonight or tomorrow. I’m squeezing all the time in as I can, it’s the last week of the semester.

Texas Young Democrats.

Hector Mendez is running for Treasurer of the Texas Young Democrats, with the election at our Q4 State Board meeting on November 22nd.

You can learn more about his background here. Still, he’s well known in Tarrant County as the communications and digital director in Commissioner Alisa Simmons’ office, as well as an active member of Tarrant YD.

Tarrant County, these last few years, has been through a lot with Christofascism on the right trying to tear our county apart, and Hector Mendez has been a trusted member of our community, an organizer, and someone who always shows up.

We have to stay focused.

Primaries are messy by design. People will take cheap shots. Narratives will twist. Some Democrats will pretend they’ve never heard of harm reduction. And Republicans will gleefully amplify every scrap of division they can get their hands on.

But we aren’t powerless spectators. We’re building the bench. We’re recruiting new candidates. We’re pressuring the old guard to do better. We’re elevating progressive voices who actually fight for us.

There are 19 days left until the filing deadline, and the real work is already here.

This is the moment where we decide what kind of party we want to be going into 2026. Do we let the same tired political games play out? Or do we invest in the candidates who are honest, principled, and willing to stare down the far-right without blinking? I know which one I’m choosing.

Stay engaged. Support your candidates. Share their stuff. Donate a few bucks if you can. And most importantly, VOTE IN THE PRIMARY!

The future of Texas is being written by all of us, right now.

Let’s win this thing.

• 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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