WOMEN SURME to BIM WINS IN TE!AS PRIMARY

State gives nation potential glimpse of midterms

AUSTIN, Texas — Womenrunning for Congress surged to big wins and Democrats smashed recent turnout levels in Texas’ first-in-thenation 2018 primary elections, giving Republicans a potential glimpse of what’s ahead in the first midterms under President Donald Trump.

Energized and angry Democrats in Texas, where the GOP has dominated for decades, came out in force to surpass 1 million voters Tuesday and eclipse midterm primary participation totals unseen since 1994, when the party was in full slide toward wilderness after long being the top political dog.

For all the talk of renewed Democratic energy heading into 2018, however, Texas Republicans also set a new benchmark for turnout in a midterm election. More than

1.5 million people voted Tuesday in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, won by incumbent Ted Cruz. That beats the previous record of

1.48 million in 2010, during former President Barack Obama’s first term.

Equally striking was the showing by women on the ballot: Of the nearly 50 women running for Congress in Texas, more than half won their primaries outright or advanced to runoffs. What’s more, at least three of those runoffs in May will feature women going head-to-head, including a key race for Democrats in their bid to take control of the U.S. House this fall.

“It’s Trump. It’s Trump,” said Veronica Escobar, who won her Democratic primary and is now poised to become one of the first Hispanic women to represent Texas in Congress.

“I’ve spoken to innumerable senior citizens, retirees, parents of disabled children, people who understand what this administration means to their families. And they’re afraid.”

Not all women fared so well. Kathaleen Wall, a Republican megadonor in Houston who pumped $6 million of her own money into her race for Congress, failed to survive a crowded nine-person field despite outspending all other candidates and having the backing of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.

Wall’s failure was also a potential warning sign of the limits of Republicans going all-in on Trump this election year. She partly staked her candidacy on TV ads that told voters there was little daylight between her and the president, who remains popular among GOP voters despite his rough edges and low approval ratings nationwide.

Democratic turnout for Texas’ primary Senate race exceeded 1,036,950 voters, which was higher than any nonpresidential year primary in 24 years. Democrats haven’t won a statewide office in Texas since 1994, which is the nation’s longest streak. But the party’s conservative wing dominated state politics in the 1970s and 1980s, and 1994 marked a key time when party fortunes flipped.

Texas’ population has also boomed over the same period, though, meaning the percentage of voters turning out for either party’s primary remains low.