National Dems may hurt ‘blue wave’
Expert says interfering in Texas races threatens momentum in midterms
The biggest threat to a blue wave forming in Texas in 2018 may be the very Democrats trying to generate it.
In less than 10 days, national Democrats have jumped into two key congressional races in Houston and provoked a firestorm of controversy that threatens to undermine Democratic momentum that has been building for over a year, Texas political experts warn.
“Every time there has been national intervention by national Democrats in a Texas race, it has always been chaotic and damaged them in the long run,” said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor with the University of Houston.
Rottinghaus said in the two races national Democrats have waded into this year, they risk creating unnecessary divisions in a year Democrats need to be more unified if they are go-
ing to win races up and down the ballot in a state that Republicans generally dominate.
“This is a problem in the general election if the Democratic base is divided again,” Rottinghaus said.
It started a week ago when U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer antagonized Houston Democrats, particularly in the city’s Latino communities, when he opted to endorse Tahir Javed, a recent Beaumont transplant who moved to Houston just last year, for Congress. Javed is the only non-Latino running in the sevenperson Democratic primary to replace U.S. Rep. Gene Green in the 29th Congressional District, which includes east Houston and parts of Pasadena, South Houston and Galena Park. Hispanics make up 77 percent of that district, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
“Exactly how tone deaf is Sen. Schumer to endorse a non-Hispanic, carpetbagging, millionaire for our Congressional District 29?” asked J.C. Salazar, a Democratic voter in the 29th Congressional District for 65 years who is backing attorney Roel Garcia in the race.
Schumer’s endorsement has also been an irritant for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in Washington, which has endorsed state Sen. Sylvia Garcia in the race and supported her through its political action committee, BOLD PAC. U.S. Rep. Tony Cardenas, a California Democrat who leads the group, took the unusual step in publicly blasting Schumer’s move.
“It is unfortunate that he is attempting to hinder history by not supporting state Sen. Sylvia Garcia, a lifelong public servant, in her bid to become the first Latina from Texas to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives,” Cardenas said.
Attack on Moser
If that weren’t enough, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in Washington decided to jump into the 7th Congressional District primary battle days later. The DCCC launched a late-night attack on Thursday against one of the seven Democrats running, Laura Moser. The attack blasts Moser as a Washington insider who would jeopardize the Democratic Party efforts to win the seat in November if she wins the primary.
Moser said she was shocked at how aggressive the DCCC got. She said if anything, she is the best type of candidate because she is an unscripted tell-it-like-itis candidate, rather than the over-coached candidates that robotically spout out what the DCCC tells them to say.
“I’m the only one who can win,” Moser said.
At the heart of the DCCC’s concern is a comment Moser gave a Washington, D.C., publication in 2014 in which she is quoted saying that she’d rather have her “teeth pulled without anesthesia” than return to Paris, Texas, to work.
Moser said she has no trouble defending those comments in a general election and that the DCCC needs to stay out of the race. She said the DCCC clearly doesn’t understand Texas if they think Paris and Houston are similar. Her comments were about how the cost of housing in more rural places like Paris is really inexpensive, but she doesn’t want to leave urban life and the availability of jobs behind.
The DCCC has not said which of the other candidates they think is the best candidate for the general election against U.S. Rep. John Culberson, R-Houston, one of their top targets for defeat in 2018.
Rottinghaus said in both of the races, national Democrats are poking at the wounds that still remain from the 2016 presidential primary between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. He said a lot of Democrats then protested the way national Democrats tried to clear a path for Clinton over Sanders and are now seeing the same thing happen in the two races.
The Republican Party of Texas, which has been dealing with questions about its own Tea Party vs. moderates divide, is relishing the opportunity to talk about its rival’s internal strife.
“The Democrats are once again so desperate to try to win in the general election that they are willing to throw away the integrity of the primary process,” said James Dickey, the chairman of the Republican Party of Texas. “The Republican Party of Texas encourages all voters to remember how the Democrats treat their primary voters when the general election begins this fall.”
Momentum shift
Since President Donald Trump took office, Democrats have been building momentum nationally and in Texas. They have been upsetting Republicans in special elections in other states. In Texas, Democrats have seen a record number of candidates running for Congress and the Legislature, and Democratic turnout in early voting has been way ahead of what it was in past gubernatorial election cycles.
That momentum has triggered concern in some GOP circles. Gov. Greg Abbott’s campaign sent out emails to supporters this week warning of the Democratic energy that has been forming and should be a motivator for Republicans to get more active.
Harris County Republican Party spokesman Vlad Davidiuk said while Democrats have had a surge of early voting, the GOP knows that the enthusiasm will be affected by developing factions as the general elections approach.
Other Democrats on the ballot are worried about the outside intervention as well. U.S. Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke made clear in an interview on CBS News on Tuesday that he doesn’t want to see national Democrats injecting themselves in primaries in Texas.
“I don’t think the DCCC, the DNC, any of those in Washington D.C., have any place in our campaign or election in Texas,” O’Rourke said. “I think this is up for Texans to decide.”
It is not the first time O’Rourke has tried to distance himself from Washington as he bids for a Senate seat.
“No, I don’t want Nancy Pelosi to come to Texas to campaign for us,” O’Rourke said last year when asked if he would accept campaign help from the former house speaker.
There is a good reason for that, Rottinghaus said. When national Democrats get into the race, Texas Republicans are quick to cite it as evidence that “outside national forces are trying to turn Texas blue.”
Look no further than Saturday when U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, in an interview in El Paso, was quick to point out that Schumer had been in Houston in January raising money for Democrats at the same event O’Rourke attended.
“My opponent is raising a ton of money. It doesn’t hurt that Chuck Schumer came down to Texas and brought his liberal buddies with him,” Cruz said.