Summertime in Texas is here, and not only is it scorching hot, but a hot hazy cloud of dust from the Saharan Desert has settled in to drive us all a little crazy and keep us indoors as much as possible.
‘Tis the season for Q2 fundraising reports, and the numbers for the Democrats are looking good:
This year, Democrats on the general election ballot have raised a total of $57.1M, an increase of 16% over four years ago. However, the distribution of those funds reveals a dramatic shift in strategy. Instead of funding a high-profile but ultimately futile governor’s race, donors are aiming at the other top-of-the-ballot race and, to a much greater extent than four years ago, congressional and legislative challengers.
Statewide candidates like Justin Nelson for Attorney General and Kim Olson for Agriculture Commissioner are nipping at the heels of their well-funded but unpopular opponents. Seven Texas Democrats for US Congress reported bigger fundraising numbers than their incumbents. Then there’s the massive Beto haul of $10.4 million in the US Senate race, which has Ted Cruz feeling the heat.
Nobody in Texas is taking the “blue wave” for granted. Slow but steady, the wave is being built individual candidate by individual candidate, especially in downballot races that traditionally don’t see much of a challenge from Texas Democrats.
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Corpus Christi, TX- Attorney and House District 43 candidate DeeAnn Torres-Miller began the week helping to reunite a Guatemalan refugee mother with her 5-year-old son, who had been among the estimated 3,000 children separated from their families as a result of the Trump Administration’s “zero tolerance” policy.
Working alongside volunteer group Immigrant Families Together, Torres-Miller accompanied Martinez with a translator to the Bokenkamp Children’s Center, where the family was reunited. They will live in Houston while they wait for their asylum case to move along.
DeeAnn is a member of the tandem fundraising group House Team Purple.
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Nacogdoches, TX- Climate activist and Democrat running for Texas House of Representatives District 11 Alec Johnson spit hot fire at a Hurricane Season campaign event emphasizing the importance of empirical science in the face of disinformation:
"It's not like we're having a difference of opinion on how to stimulate the economy, we're talking about something absolutely fundamental. Those of us who understand the reality of global warming are up against the most heavily funded disinformation campaign in the history of the world," Johnson said. "Ted Cruz is part of it and Travis Clardy is part of it."
Alec is a member of House Team Purple 2.
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Prairie View, TX- Waller County goat farmer Lisa Seger has taught herself how to run for office in a ruby-red district begging for alternatives to the single-party GOP stronghold Texas has become. As a Democrat running for District 3, Seger may be an underdog, but she’s no lark:
“It’s impossible for a Democrat to win HD-3,” says Mark Jones, leader of the Texas Politics Program at the Baker Institute and a Kinder Fellow. “It’s like playing football where the other team starts with five touchdowns.”
But the run isn’t for nothing. “This is exactly what the Democratic Party needs if it’s going to return to the majority status,”says Jones. A Democratic candidate gives voters an alternative and political analysts say that’s better than leaving a race uncontested.
Lisa is also a member of House Team Purple.
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Galveston, TX- Last but not least, 26-year-old Amanda Jamrok’s campaign for HD23 faces rich kid Mayes Middleton, an Abbott-backed Republican who ‘raised’ an impressive $1.7 million with $1.5 million of it coming from his own pocket.
David Mays Middleton raised $1.7 Million for a primary race in Galveston County. 87% of that was his own money, $1.5 Million. According to his latest financial report he spent over $1.6 Million for his 7,981 primary votes or $207 per vote.
When you have to spend half a million dollars on consulting for a lackluster campaign showing, you know you might have to dig a little deeper. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this become a $3 million race. Galveston’s new Beto for Senate HQ office recently saw 250+ enthusiastic people cram into its opening, and with local Santa Fe High School students mobilizing to form Orange Generation, Mayes is by no means buying his way to an easy seat in Austin.
Amanda is another member of House Team Purple.