The Washington Post - USA (2022-03-02)

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2 , 2022. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ M2 A

Cuellar has denied any wrong-
doing but vanished from the
campaign trail after the FBI raid,
encouraging liberal groups who
see a chance to unseat one of the
most conservative Democrats in
the House.
T exas Attorney General Ken
Paxton, a Trump endorsee who
faces an FBI investigation and an
indictment on state securities
fraud charges, was projected to
win a place in a runoff in his
quest for his third Republican
nomination. Land Commissioner
George P. Bush, a grandson and
nephew of former presidents,
was leading for the second spot,
challenged by retired state Su-
preme Court justice Eva Guzman
and U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert.
Republican strategists entered
Election Day bullish on their
prospects in November. Early-
voting totals show Republican
interest much higher than Dem-
ocrats’ in what appeared to be
shaping up as a low-turnout
primary affair. More than 1 mil-
lion Republicans had cast ballots
through Friday, compared with
about 628,000 Democrats, ac-
cording to a tally kept by the
Texas secretary of state.
“Their turnout is going to be
dwarfed by our turnout,” said
David M. Carney, a Republican
consultant who was advising Ab-
bott on his reelection campaign.
“The EPA should be down here
protecting Democrats as an en-
dangered species.”
Democrats countered that they
were well positioned to hold their
ground and potentially make
gains in the fall, even as they
complained that new voting laws
have been keeping some of their
voters from turning out. Those
include rules requiring specific
types of voter identification that
have led to a higher number of
rejected mail-in ballots.
In Harris County, which in-
cludes the city of Houston, offi-
cials announced counting delays
because damaged ballot sheets
needed to be duplicated to be
scanned properly, according to
the Texas secretary of state’s
office.
Precincts across the state re-
ported light traffic in the early
morning hours, with only four
people voting by midmorning at
the Iglesia Palabra de Amor com-
munity center on Fort Worth’s
far north side — two Republicans
and two Democrats. Fifteen min-
utes after polling sites opened at
7 a.m., voting officials were at the
ready but no voters had yet
arrived in Kingsville, a town of
about 25,000 some 45 miles
southwest of Corpus Christi.
“Our main concern is low
turnout,” said Prissy Garza, Pre-
cinct 43 voting judge in Kleberg
County.
Later in the day, long lines
appeared along with voter frus-
trations as Texans struggled with
new voting equipment, reduced
polling locations and other
changes to the voting process.
Hidalgo County Democratic
Party Chairman Patrick Eronini
said he originally had about 88
polling locations mapped out but
was able to open only 41. He
simply did not have enough
workers.
“Many judges have died of
covid, and one got sick with
covid at the last minute,” Eronini
said. “The county did not provide
us with the proper training. They
gave us one day to train people

TEXAS FROM A1 on the new machines.”
Fred North, 74, of Richardson
in Dallas County was one of the
first people to cast his vote at the
Richardson Civic Center on Tues-
day. He said he blamed the low
turnout on the more restrictive
voting laws in Texas.
“Voting used to be much easi-
er. Finding the right place to vote
was a bit confusing for me,”
North said. “It’s hard enough to
vote, and we should find every
way possible to help people vote.
It doesn’t make sense to make it
harder.”
A nother potential winner of
the night was House Minority
Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Ca-
lif.), who saw several candidates
he has championed leading in
early returns for congressional
primaries. They include business
executive Monica De La Cruz in
the 15th District, retired Navy
SEAL Morgan Luttrell in the 8th
District and former Army heli-
copter pilot Wesley Hunt in the
new 38th District.
Rep. Van Taylor (R), who rep-
resents the 3rd Congressional
District in the suburbs north of
Dallas, led his challengers from
the right in the early vote count.
He attracted criticism after he
voted for a bipartisan commis-
sion to investigate the Jan. 6
attack on the U.S. Capitol, upset-
ting supporters of former presi-
dent Trump.
Trump had stayed out of that
race, while endorsing more than
30 other Republican candidates
in the state, a wide array that ran
from Abbott’s gubernatorial
campaign to a candidate for
Tarrant County judge. Many of
his endorsements had come in
the past few weeks and went to
incumbents or candidates not
facing serious opposition, sug-
gesting he was hoping to burnish
his win-loss record in GOP pri-
maries, a statistic he often boasts
about.
He had also proudly endorsed
state Rep. Ryan Guillen, another
border politician, who recently
switched parties to become a
Republican after state leaders
redrew his district. Republicans
have been running local candi-
dates at a clip not seen in recent
memory in historically Demo-
cratic strongholds in southern
Texas.
“ Big night in Texas!” Trump
said in a news release after the
counting of ballots had begun.
“All 33 candidates that were
Trump endorsed have either won
their primary election or are
substantially leading in the case
of a runoff.”
Abbott and former congress-
man O’Rourke (D) were long
expected to win their parties’
nominations for the top job in
the state. Public and private polls
had put them both well above the
50 percent threshold needed to
avoid a May 24 runoff in their
respective contests.
O’Rourke, whom Democrats
spent months urging to enter the
race, faced challengers who had
raised little money, including
public radio reporter Joy Diaz.
Abbott’s challengers included
conservative YouTuber Chad
Prather, businessman Don Huff-
ines and former state GOP chair-
man Allen West, all of whom had
accused the two-term governor
of acting on conservative priori-
ties only when forced.
E ven before the Associated
Press projected the victory, Huff-
ines released a statement con-
ceding defeat to Abbott while

claiming credit for forcing the

governor “to deliver real con-

servative victories” during the

Republican primary by challeng-

ing him from the right.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a close

ally of Trump who like Abbott

won his nomination to seek an-

other term, drew only little-

known challengers, while Demo-

crats picked from a field that

included 2018 Patrick challenger

Mike Collier and state Rep. Mi-

chelle Beckley.

Paxton, who trailed other Re-

publicans in his 2018 reelection

race, had the best-funded chal-

lengers of any Republican on the

ballot. He ran ads attacking Guz-

man and Gohmert, but polls

suggested he was likely to be

forced into a second round, with

Bush going into the evening as

the most probable runner-up.

“He’s already admitted that

this is going to a runoff,” Bush

said in a recent interview after a

campaign stop near College Sta-

tion. Trump’s endorsement of

Paxton, he said, had not changed

his own strategy. Bush had

fought at minimum to deny Pax-

ton the endorsement, to no avail.

Trump also backed state Sen.

Dawn Buckingham in the pri-

mary to replace Bush, helping

her lead the field Tuesday as

votes were counted. She raised

nearly $2 million for the land

commissioner race; Jay Kleberg,

a Democratic conservationist

leading the contest for his party’s

nomination, had stockpiled

$500,000, more than any of the

Democrats running for attorney

general. In the race for agricul-

ture commissioner, Trump en-

dorsed incumbent Sid Miller,

another early backer of his 2016

presidential campaign.

New congressional districts

approved by Texas’s Republican-

led legislature last year drastical-

ly shrank the number of competi-

tive seats, with swing districts

around Houston, Dallas and Aus-

tin redrawn into districts safe for

one party.

Democrats were divided be-

tween a few candidates, with

Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-Tex.)

backing Army veteran Ruben

Ramirez and some national lib-

eral groups supporting activist

Michelle Vallejo in the 15th Dis-

trict. She ran unabashedly from

the left, while Ramirez argued

that the Republican-trending

district is more inclined to elect a

moderate in November.

The bitterest Republican pri-

mary unfolded in the 8th Con-

gressional District, where long-

time Rep. Kevin Brady (R) is

retiring. The McCarthy-backed

candidate for that seat, Luttrell,

has faced criticism for his friend-

ship with Rep. Adam Kinzinger

(R-Ill.), a fellow veteran. Chris-

tian Collins, a former aide to Sen.

Ted Cruz (R), attacked Luttrell

over a $5,000 donation from

Kinzinger — a Trump critic and

member of the House panel in-

vestigating the 2021 Capitol in-

surrection — even though the

candidate returned it.

“I’ve spent my life intimidat-

ing other people, like that empty

suit,” Luttrell said during a tele-

vised debate with Collins last

month. “

Luttrell had the support of

Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R) and

former governor Rick Perry, both

political mentors, while Collins

rallied during the early-voting

period with Reps. Marjorie Tay-

lor Greene (R-Ga.) and Madison

Cawthorn (R-N.C.).

The most expensive Demo-

cratic fight for an open seat was

unfolding in the 35th Congres-

sional District, where former

Austin city councilman Greg

Casar had locked up labor and

liberal endorsements, rallying

with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-

Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Eliza-

beth Warren (D-Mass.) — though

he lost the support of a local

Democratic Socialists of America

chapter over his rejection of its

Israel policies.

Polling had him ahead of state

Rep. Eddie Rodriguez and lesser-

known candidates, but support-

ers of both Casar and Cisneros

were trying to push them over 50

percent Tuesday, wary of runoffs

that could give moderate Demo-

crats time to regroup and spend

money against them.

“This is about making sure

that we send a message: Do not

mess with Texas progressives,”

Ocasio-Cortez told voters at a

San Antonio rally last month

with Casar and Cisneros.

Democrats were also battling

for another safe seat, the 30th

Congressional District in Dallas,

where Rep. Eddie Bernice John-

son (D) is retiring and had en-

dorsed state Rep. Jasmine Crock-

ett, a former public defender.

Crockett swept up endorsements

from liberal groups but had

trailed two other candidates in

fundraising: former state legisla-

tive staffer Abel Mulugheta and

party operative Jane Hamilton.

Democrats argued that while

the state remains challenging

ground, the party is poised to

show that Texas is growing more

blue after the 2018 burst of

energy, as they seek to ride

shifting demographics.

“Texas has been a hard state

for Democrats for 25 years,” said

Matt Angle, director of the Lone

Star Project, a group focused on

recruiting and supporting Dem-

ocrats in Texas. “The fact that

[Republicans] are able to hold on

in a Republican state is not a

show of strength.”

Jack Douglas in Fort Worth, Annette

Nevins in Richardson and Mary Lee

Grant in Kingsville contributed to

this report.

GOP sights are high as Texas kicks o≠ midterms season

“Voting used to be much easier. Finding the right

place to vote was a bit confusing for me. ... It

doesn’t make sense to make it harder.”

Fred North, 74, who cast his vote Tuesday in Richardson, Tex.

LM OTERO/ASSOCIATED PRESS ERIC GAY/ASSOCIATED PRESS

LEFT: Texas Democratic gubernatorial nominee Beto O’Rourke hugs Crystal Mason, who was prosecuted for improperly casting a provisional ballot in the 2016 presidential election, after she introduced him to
speak Tuesday at a rally in Fort Worth. RIGHT: Gov. Greg Abbott, who won his GOP primary to seek a third term in a November contest against O’Rourke, speaks at an election night rally in Corpus Christi.

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