Lively Primary
Today is the last day to vote early in person in the H-Town City Council At-Large 4 special election runoff. Go vote, please.
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The Chron put Cong. Jasmine Crockett on the hard copy front page today. See the featured photo. Nice, if you are supporting Cong. Crockett for the U.S. senator. It looks like Texas Democrats are in for a lively primary. It’s Cong. Crockett and State Rep. James Talarico. Both have resources and supporters.
MAGA wasted no time in going after Cong. Crockett. You know, a strong opinionated African American woman must be bad for Texas thing.
On the other side, MAGA could very well nominate a crook and cheater that MAGA would say is not bad for Texas.
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Woah. This is kind of a curve ball or maybe the hidden ball trick from Evan Mintz who leads the Chron’s E-Board. This dropped yesterday and had some of my H-Town Mayor John Whitmire friends buzzing. It is also on the editorial column of today’s hard copy. See this by Evan:
Today is the last day for candidates to register for the Texas’ 2026 primaries, which means two things.
First, the Houston Chronicle Editorial Board will begin our mad sprint to research and interview candidates so that we can publish our endorsements before early voting begins on Tuesday, February 17.
Second, Texas Democrats will begin their inevitable march toward losing statewide in November.
The Lone Star version of the Washington Generals had plenty of time to recruit the sort of candidates who could actually flip the state blue — candidates who could somehow distinguish themselves from a deeply unpopular national brand. Instead, they’re mostly running a slate of generic Democrats.
The fact of the matter is that there are simply more Republicans in Texas than Democrats. An effective Democratic candidate would find some way to win crossover voters.
If only Texas Democrats had someone with a track record of winning Republican support. Someone with the longtime backing of law enforcement and other conservative-friendly interest groups. Someone with impressive fundraising, who could bring together an unlikely coalition and finally be the first Democrat to win statewide in more than a quarter century.
Someone like Mayor John Whitmire.
I’m not kidding. I think Whitmire would run a strong campaign for statewide office — though he would have to survive a Democratic primary first. That would be a real battle. Pundits spill plenty of ink explaining how right-wing extremists in the Republican primary end up setting the agenda for state politics. Less is said about how the Democratic primary voters keep picking candidates too liberal to win statewide.
While local lefties — and also this more moderate editorial board — are quick to complain about Whitmire’s policies and personality, it isn’t as if those activists have any sense of what it takes to win in Texas. In fact, slings and arrows from the left are probably a sign that Whitmire could pick off some Republican voters and be a formidable candidate in the general election.
Here is the entire Evan Mintz read: Mayor Whitmire could be Texas’ Joe Manchin. But it’s too late for 2026.
Mayor Whitmire isn’t running statewide. If he did though, I could envision him winning in a Democratic Party primary. Bike lanes, dealing with ICE, H-Town’s city budget, and hefty pay raises for first responders play differently with Democratic primary voters across Texas and I will leave it at that.
I put my trust in Texas Democratic Party Primary voters to do the right thing and nominate strong candidates. There are folks who voted for MAGA candidates in 2024 who are not happy with what is going on today. The affordability thing is real. Our nominees must convince the unhappy voters to come back out and vote for Democrats. It is doable in my book.
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I saw this tweet earlier:
TODAY with Jenna & Sheinelle will debut in January.
Congrats to Sheinelle Jones. Well deserved.
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The Astros are looking to make some moves, but nothing to report as of this morning.