Texas voted on Tuesday, and the state is still very much red. Republicans showed up big time in rural areas, with 500,000 more Texans voting in the GOP primary than the Democratic one. Sen. Ted Cruz (R) trounced his opponent Beto O'Rourke, winning more than twice the number of votes. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott similarly dominated.
Still, on Wednesday, liberal groups found some positive takeaways.
Emily's List, for instance, emailed their supporters about what a "great night" they had. They ignored most of the results, instead narrowing their focus to two Democratic Latina women who won their respective primaries and could win the upcoming elections.
Our women had a historic night in Texas last night!
Veronica Escobar and Sylvia Garcia won their primary elections outright. Texas has never sent a Latina to Congress, and they could both be the first.
Our other candidates — Gina Ortiz Jones, Lizzie Pannill Fletcher, and Lillian Salerno — are advancing to run-off elections on May 22nd. Their races are top opportunities to turn red House seats blue, and we know our women are the right candidates to defeat Republicans.
All five of these women were running in crowded primaries, so these results are a testament to the strong support of this community.
But we can't rest on our laurels. Gina, Lizzie, and Lillian need your help to win their runoffs. And we still have dozens of other women in competitive primaries across the country.
Let's show them we've still got their backs.
Battleground Texas, a group determined to turn the state blue, also tried to hold their heads high. With little good news to share, they quoted Sen. Cruz.
Friend,
Texas Democrats haven't voted at this rate in a midterm in 16 years, and we need to keep up this excitement through November.
Ted Cruz said it last night -- "[Democrats] are mobilizing in a powerful way." If we can get this turnout in a primary -- in which historically fewer people vote -- imagine what we can do in the general election in November.
Battleground Texas is hiring 18 more organizers to register and turn out even more Texans all across the state -- from El Paso, to Lubbock, to Corpus Christi, to the Valley.
For a more rational analysis of what happened in Texas Tuesday night, let me refer you to Matt's and Guy's reports.
