A jumbo size photo of the face of former Gov. Ann Richards welcomes attendees to the 2022 Texas Democratic Convention, Thursday, July 14, 2022, in Dallas. Richards was the last Democrat in the governor's mansion, from 1991 to 1995.In 2020, national Democrats were pouring money into Texas like never before, fueling efforts to take control of the state House of Representatives, flip a slew of congressional districts and unseat a Republican U.S. senator who had been in office for two decades.
Part of the issue is that the big national campaign arms for both Democrats and Republicans tend to prioritize keeping incumbents in office, rather than making big plays in states where they could make gains. In Georgia, for example, Democrats are fighting tooth-and-nail to keep U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock in office — an effort that will likely trickle down to Stacey Abrams’ second bid for governor and a host of down-ballot congressional and legislative races.
Still, Democrats say they believe Texas is on a similar trajectory to states like Arizona and Georgia, where Democrats have recently won big statewide races after years of GOP control. But it’s still a ways behind. Democrats haven’t won a statewide race in Texas in three decades, though the margins have gotten smaller in recent years.
In two other South Texas districts, incumbent U.S. Reps. Henry Cuellar of Laredo and Vicente Gonzalez of McAllen are fighting for their political lives.
“This seat is winnable, but it's plain to see this is a tough environment for Democrats,” Walker said. “The president is upside-down, inflation is where it is, the fact that we are competing at possibly an even Senate and maybe only 15 seats lost or 20 seats lost in the House — it could be much, much, much worse.”
“It hasn’t stopped the national party from providing huge amounts of resources to Arizona, to Georgia, to Pennsylvania, to Wisconsin — far more than they’ve ever provided to the state of Texas,” he said.