The Democratic candidates for lieutenant governor, comptroller and railroad commissioner were carefully optimistic about the blue team’s chances of winning a statewide office for the first time since 1994 during a Texas Tribune Festival panel Friday.
“We jumped into these races not knowing whether we could win them,” state Sen. Sarah Eckhardt of Austin, who’s running for comptroller, said. “Now the terrain seems to be changing. If we had waited until we were sure we could win, we would never have gotten up our asses.”
Democrats widely see this election cycle as their most competitive in years, with backlash to the Trump administration and high everyday costs driving voters away from the GOP, which has controlled Texas for decades.
Recent public polling has shown Democrat James Talarico ahead of Republican Ken Paxton in the race for U.S. Senate, and Democrat Gina Hinojosa has landed within a few points of Gov. Greg Abbott — an unprecedented sight in modern Texas politics.
Riding on their coattails — and running in their shadows — are numerous Democratic candidates, many with far lower name recognition in races voters may pay less attention to.
State Rep. Vikki Goodwin, who’s challenging Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, said “there’s a lot of communication” across the statewide ticket, but “there’s not as much coordination.”
As an example, Talarico called her last week to suggest recording a video together about the importance of the lieutenant governor race, but emphasized the challenges of coordinating a plan to follow through as both candidates campaign across the vast state.
Still, she said that the statewide candidates were “dividing and conquering” parts of the state.
Eckhardt pointed to Clayton Tucker, Democratic nominee for agriculture commissioner, campaigning in rural Texas, which is helpful to candidates all along the ballot.
“Every success of everyone from the statewide ticket compounds to the success of us all,” she said.
Democrats are fielding a candidate in every federal and state race this cycle (aside from one legislative race, after the Democrat dropped out this month) for the first time in modern Texas history. They hope this will engage communities Democrats have historically ceded to the GOP and boost turnout while maximizing their chances of flipping down-ballot seats.
State Rep. Jon Rosenthal, the Democratic nominee for railroad commissioner, saw his race garner national attention this month after his opponent, Bo French, made a racist social media post about University of Texas at Austin students.
While numerous Republican officials denounced French’s post, few said they would no longer support his candidacy at the ballot box.
Rosenthal argued that would create a drag on the entire Republican ticket.
“That’s going to weigh down their party and their side, because they’re all connecting themselves with an old racism that most people find unacceptable,” he said.
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