What Went Down At Biden’s State Of The Union And Texas’s Primary Election
We’re wrapping up the live blog shortly, so let’s take a final look at how Black candidates for House and governor fared tonight. Although many races still aren’t called, we know that at least five Black Democrats have won their primaries, while at least two Black Republicans and two Black Democrats have lost theirs.
How Black candidates are doing tonight
Black candidates for House and governor in Texas and their results in Democratic and Republican primaries, as of 12:20 a.m. Eastern
| CANDIDATE | OFFICE | PARTY | % REPORTING | VOTE SHARE | STATUS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victor D. Dunn | TX-01 | D | 92% | 28% | Trailing |
| Jrmar (JJ) Jefferson | TX-01 | D | 92 | 46 | Leading |
| Martin Etwop | TX-02 | R | 80 | 5 | ✗ Lost |
| Doc Shelby | TX-03 | D | 71 | 39 | Trailing |
| Iro Omere | TX-04 | D | 100 | — | ✓ Won |
| Tartisha Hill | TX-05 | D | 62 | 50 | Leading |
| Benson Gitau | TX-07 | R | 50 | 2 | Trailing |
| Al Green* | TX-09 | D | 100 | — | ✓ Won |
| Trey J. Hunt | TX-12 | D | 100 | — | ✓ Won |
| Eugene Howard | TX-14 | D | 76 | 50 | Trailing |
| Sheila Jackson Lee* | TX-18 | D | 100 | — | ✓ Won |
| David Anderson Jr. | TX-21 | D | 68 | 9 | Trailing |
| Raven Harrison | TX-26 | R | 73 | 5 | Trailing |
| Lulite Ejigu | TX-29 | R | 45 | 3 | Trailing |
| Jasmine Crockett | TX-30 | D | 64 | 47 | Leading |
| Arthur Dixon | TX-30 | D | 64 | 1 | Trailing |
| Jane Hope Hamilton | TX-30 | D | 64 | 19 | Trailing |
| Vonciel Jones Hill | TX-30 | D | 64 | 4 | Trailing |
| Keisha Williams-Lankford | TX-30 | D | 64 | 8 | Trailing |
| Barbara Mallory Caraway | TX-30 | D | 64 | 8 | Trailing |
| Jessica Mason | TX-30 | D | 64 | 3 | Trailing |
| Abel Mulugheta | TX-30 | D | 64 | 6 | Trailing |
| Roy Williams Jr. | TX-30 | D | 64 | 5 | Trailing |
| James “J. Frank” Harris | TX-30 | R | 57 | 33 | Leading |
| Dakinya “Kinya” Jefferson | TX-30 | R | 57 | 5 | Trailing |
| Colin Allred* | TX-32 | D | 100 | — | ✓ Won |
| EE Okpa | TX-32 | R | 57 | 5 | Trailing |
| Marc Veasey* | TX-33 | D | 54 | 73 | Leading |
| Carla-Joy Sisco | TX-35 | D | 84 | 7 | ✗ Lost |
| Marilyn Jackson | TX-35 | R | 71 | 11 | Trailing |
| Centrell Reed | TX-38 | D | 46 | 16 | Trailing |
| Jerry Ford | TX-38 | R | 56 | 2 | Trailing |
| Wesley Hunt | TX-38 | R | 56 | 56 | Leading |
| Michael Cooper | TX Gov. | D | 74 | 3 | ✗ Lost |
| Allen B. West | TX Gov. | R | 83 | 12 | ✗ Lost |
Progressives have had a pretty good night in Texas. Casar, who is endorsed by the Sunrise Movement, Indivisible, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Our Revolution and Justice Dems, won his open primary in Texas’s 35th District. In Texas’s 30th District, Crockett, who is endorsed by Our Revolution, is leading in that open primary. And as noted throughout the night, Cisneros is leading in Texas’s 28th District in a close race against incumbent Cuellar that might go to a runoff. And in Texas’s 16th, incumbent Rep. Veronica Escobar, who is endorsed by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, beat back her lone challenger.
How progressives are doing this election
House and governor candidates endorsed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Indivisible, Justice Democrats, Our Revolution, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Sen. Bernie Sanders or the Sunrise Movement running in Texas’s Democratic primaries, as of 12:18 a.m. Eastern
| Candidate | Office | % Reporting | Vote Share | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Veronica Escobar* | TX-16 | 65% | 88.0% | ✓ Won |
| Jessica Cisneros | TX-28 | 80 | 49.0 | Leading |
| Jasmine Crockett | TX-30 | 64 | 46.9 | Leading |
| Greg Casar | TX-35 | 84 | 62.0 | ✓ Won |
As we wrote in 2020, thanks to an increasingly powerful progressive campaign apparatus, the left wing of the Democratic Party is now an established player in the party’s primaries, and in 2022 that apparatus is back at it. This year, as in the last two election cycles, FiveThirtyEight will once again be tracking the success of candidates endorsed by progressive groups and progressive leaders to monitor the movement’s influence within the party, so we’ll see you at the next primary.
It’s been another long night covering a Texas election, but I’ve gotta say … I agree with Nathaniel’s earlier assessment that there weren’t too many surprises tonight. Most incumbents (both Republicans and Democrats) beat a slate of challengers and several marquee races (like the Texas gubernatorial primary races) were quick calls. What I will say, though, is that some pundits might look at tonight as a win for progressives in the state. We discussed this a bit on the podcast, but you have folks like Cisneros in the 28th District, Casar in the 35th District and O’Rourke for governor who either 1) handily won their races or 2) are close to beating someone far more moderate. As Texas gets slightly bluer with each presidential cycle, I’m curious if this is a trend we can expect going forward — or if this is a fluke year?