Democrat Hegar wins Senate nomination in Texas

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas’ MJ Hegar won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in a primary runoff Tuesday that was postponed months over fears of the coronavirus, only to be held as the outbreak is worse than ever.

President Donald Trump’s former doctor in the White House, Ronny Jackson, also won the GOP nomination for a rural congressional seat on a day in which Texas set a record for new coronavirus cases and reported 87 new deaths. Some counties cut back on polling places as virus fears created a shortage of election workers, although reports of long lines were sparse even as turnout was higher than a typical primary runoff.

Hegar’s victory is a win for national Democratic groups that backed her campaign — as did former presidential candidates Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Elizabeth Warren — believing the former Air Force helicopter pilot has a centrist appeal that gives the party the best shot at an upset in America’s biggest red state.

But it was far from a resounding victory over state Sen. Royce West, who would have been Texas’ first Black Senator if elected in November. The close margin reflected divisions among Democratic voters two years after former congressman Beto O’Rourke revived the party’s long-dormant hopes in Texas by nearly ousting Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. By late Tuesday, Hegar had more than 52 percent of the vote.

She will be an underdog against Republican Sen. John Cornyn, and Democrats nationally do not view the race as competitive as their chances of flipping Senate seats in Arizona, Colorado and Maine.

Hegar said, however, that it’s a race she can win. “The grassroots energy that has jelled behind this campaign, and my ability to connect with people because I am a regular working Texas mom has really pushed us to this point.”

Democrats hope that Trump’s sagging poll numbers will be a burden for the GOP ticket.

Wearing masks and trying to keep their distance, voters headed out to polls in blazing 100-degree afternoon heat and at a moment when Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is urging the public to stay home as Texas struggles to contain one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in the country.

Abbott, who has warned that the infection numbers will likely get even worse, did not include polling places under a statewide mask order, and unlike many states, Texas has fought efforts to expand mail-in balloting. On Tuesday, Texas reported a record 10,745 confirmed new cases in a single day, and the rate of positive cases also climbed to nearly 17 percent — also a new high.

Jackson, a retired Navy rear admiral, defeated Josh Winegarner in a primary runoff and will now be heavily favored in November in the deeply red Texas Panhandle. Trump endorsed his former doctor two years after he nominated him to lead the Department of Veteran Affairs, saying he was impressed by Jackson when the doctor gave a glowing report on the president’s health and mental well-being.