Rep. Morales in the Fight

Good news for Texas Democrats. We sure could use some. See this from the Trib:

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, the party’s national arm that targets legislative races, announced Wednesday that it plans to put resources into Texas next year for the first time since 2020.

The national interest reflects Democratic optimism that the 2026 cycle will provide a favorable political climate for the party, amid President Donald Trump’s flagging approval ratings and voter dismay over the state of the economy.

In Texas, the effort to flip GOP-controlled state House districts will be led by the House Democratic Campaign Committee. The group announced Wednesday that state Rep. Christina Morales of Houston will serve as its chair for the 2026 cycle, replacing state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, an Austin Democrat who is running for governor.

Morales told The Texas Tribune that the HDCC initially plans to target four seats Democrats tried and failed to flip in 2024, and one of the two seats Democrats lost:

• House District 34, which Rep. Denise Villalobos, R-Corpus Christi, flipped by an 11-percentage point margin
• House District 37, which Rep. Janie Lopez, R-San Benito, won by 10 points
• House District 112, which Rep. Angie Chen Button, R-Garland, won by 8 points
• House District 118, an open seat that Rep. John Lujan, R-San Antonio, won by 3 points
• House District 121, which Rep. Marc LaHood, R-San Antonio, won by 5 points

For the first time in several cycles, Democrats are fielding candidates in every federal and state legislative race in Texas. Among the targeted seats, Morales singled out three Democratic candidates who are running unopposed in their primaries — Zach Hebert in HD 112, Kristian Carranza in HD 118 and Zach Dunn in HD 121 — as contenders who “can relate to the community there and have the right messaging.”

“Republicans have been so good about putting us on the defense, but I want us to focus on being on the offense this time around,” Morales said.

Here is the entire Trib read: National Democrats put Texas House on 2026 target list.

I believe Democrats could pick up a number of seats in the Texas House of Representatives in 2026. State Rep. Christina Morales in the featured photo is in the fight and is my state representative, good friend, and former client. I helped her in her campaign in 2019. She is a leader who will do a good job in her new role. She will be tough and aggressive. Good luck.

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Here is why I am feeling good about the 2026 election here in Texas. See this from the Chron:

National Democrats are celebrating recent wins in Virginia and New Jersey – and in Miami on Tuesday – as a sign of a building blue wave for 2026. But in South Texas, Bobby Pulido wants nothing to do with that kind of talk.

​“No, no, no,” the Edinburg Democrat snapped in an interview Wednesday, calling it fool’s gold when I brought those election results up. “I’m not doing that.”

​While he’s aware of what happened, he said he can’t let any of that influence what he’s doing in South Texas as he tries to flip the 15th Congressional District that U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz, R-McAllen, has held since 2022.

​Pulido, a Tejano music star who is putting his career on pause to jump into the race, said he feels good about the race, not because of what is happening in other states, but because people he’s talked to in rural and urban areas want someone who will fight for an economy that works for them and not just Wall Street.

​“People don’t want you to change their life; they just want you to make their lives better,” Pulido said.

​That economic message has already been cited as a key factor in why Democrats won gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia last month, and on Tuesday, Eileen Higgins became the first Democratic mayor of Miami since 1998.

​Like the races for governor in New Jersey and Virginia in November, exit polling in Miami shows Latino voters flipped heavily back to Democratic candidates after last year’s presidential election, when Donald Trump made major gains with them.

​Chuck Rocha, a national Democratic political strategist originally from Tyler, said in New Jersey, Latino voters were feeling a combination of anxieties about the economy and the way Trump has handled immigration. Many may have wanted tougher border security, but that has brought “a certain amount of terror just because they have brown skin.”

​The result, Rocha said, is that in some places in New Jersey, there was a 25% shift of Latinos from Trump to Democrats. He said Texas is a very different game because of how big of a presence Latinos have in South Texas. About 80% of the voters in South Texas are Latino, which means just shifting 5% to 8% of Trump supporters could sweep candidates like Pulido into office.

​A group called WelcomePAC, which supports more moderate Democrats, also sees a pathway to victory for both Pulido and U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Brownsville. Even though Republicans redrew congressional lines to favor GOP candidates, the group thinks they made faulty assumptions that Latino voters will vote for Republicans next year just because they supported Trump in 2024.

Here is the entire Chron read: How shifting Latino voters could cost Republicans in South Texas.

Literally speaking, it is pretty clear Trump is asleep at the wheel when it comes to affordability and the economy. The masked ICE thugs violating due process also aren’t a good look. We will see so stay tuned.

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H-Town City Council Member Abbie Kamin who represents District C is running for Harris County Attorney. She will have to resign her council seat. I heard last night that a special election to fill her seat will be held in April of 2026. I live in District C and will get to vote in the special election.

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That is all I have for now.