Raising a lot of money is certainly one way to get noticed in a crowded election field.
Tahir Javed
Twenty-six years ago, a Houston political fixture named Sylvia Garcia ran for Congress. She came up short, placing third in the Democratic primary and missed her shot at the runoff.
Now a state senator, Garcia is running for Congress again and, until recently, some in Houston were predicting she would effectively swamp the other six Democrats in the race, winning the party’s nomination in a clear shot on the March 6 primary and avoiding a runoff.
The wildcard appears to be Tahir Javed, an outspoken healthcare executive who told the Tribune that he will “spend whatever it takes” to win the seat U.S. Rep. Gene Green, D-Houston, is giving up after 25 years.
“I have invested in people all my life, and I want to do it one more time,” said Javed, CEO of Riceland Healthcare.
In the face of Javed’s promises to spend heavily on direct mail, television and radio advertising, some local Houston political insiders are beginning to wonder if Garcia’s path will be far tougher than anyone anticipated even just a few weeks ago.
She remains confident that the race will end on March 6.
“We take nothing for granted,” Garcia said in an interview. “We keep working like everyone of our opponents are not first-time candidates, but seasoned candidates. We’re ready. We’re confident we are going to win, and we are going to win without a runoff.”
[…]
The historical stakes are high for Garcia’s candidacy: She would be the first Hispanic woman to serve in Congress from Texas and the first Hispanic altogether to represent the Houston area of Congress.
But Javed could make history as well. Texas has yet to elect an Asian-American to Congress.
He has national Democratic ties as a donor and fundraiser for party causes and candidates.
He outpaced Garcia in fourth quarter fundraising in individual contributions. She raised $201,000 to his $248,000. But he also loaned his campaign an additional $400,000, while she donated and loaned to her own campaign about $53,000.
The end result is that Javed ended the quarter with $553,000 in cash on hand, compared to Garcia’s $210,000 haul.
[…]
Javed touted that his lowest-paid employees make well above the minimum wage.
“I’m running because this is exactly what I’ve done…I’m a health care professional who has done [a] whole bunch of times bringing the health care to the underserved areas, and I have done it very well with top-notch health care there,” Javed said.
He was quick to rattle off unflattering statistics about the district. Intended or not, his negative assessments – specifically on health care – are implicit criticisms of Green, who is one of the most powerful House Democrats as the ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health.
Javed also repeatedly ripped the pollution and cancer rates in the district – an attack used against Green in his own primary two years ago.
“Pasadena? They call it Stinkadena,” Javed said, of the need to clean up the refinery-heavy region.
When asked if Green was responsible for the problems in the district, Javed said: “I don’t want to point fingers, honestly speaking, on anyone, but my question to all of the elected officials [is]: How do you justify it?”
He then cited statistics of the district’s poverty and high-school drop out rates.
“It’s either his fault or somebody else before him or some state senators or state reps or school districts.”
See here for some background. Tahir’s Q4 finance report is here, and Garcia’s is here. For some reason I can’t see individual contributors in Javed’s report, so I can’t say how many of his contributions are local. I can say that Garcia also has $204K in her state campaign fund, so the gap between them is less than the story reports. I think this is one of those times where having a lot of money won’t mean much. I’ve seen Javed’s TV ad, and let’s just say he’s not the most compelling speaker I’ve ever heard. I’m also hard pressed to think of a context in which saying “Stinkadena” will be taken positively by the voters, even if it is wrapped in a legitimate criticism of the outgoing Congressman and the status quo as a whole, of which Garcia is a part. The subtlety will be lost, is what I’m saying.
On a side note, I’m tired of stories that mention that a particular candidate in this cycle could be the first person of a category to be elected to something from Texas without acknowledging that said person is not the only candidate who qualifies for that category. Sylvia Garcia could be the first Latina elected to Congress from Texas, but so could Veronica Escobar or Lillian Salerno or Judy Canales. Fran Watson could be the first LGBT person elected to the State Senate, but so could Mark Phariss. Tahir Javed could be the first Asian-American elected to Congress from Texas, but so could Gina Ortiz Jones or Sri Kulkarni or Chetan Panda or Silky Malik or Ali Khorasani. You get the idea. Just recognize that there’s more than one way this could happen, that’s all that I ask.
Danny Nguyen (DannyforCongress.com) could be the first Asian American elected to Congress from Texas as well.
Kuff, Lillian Salerno is Italian, not a Latina (common mistake.).
I think Sylvia Garcia will prevail.
Tahir has never lived in the district and all of a sudden shows up and says he wants to represent constituents; not genuine and sincere. He has not properly introduced himself to the community, and I personally have never seen him.
Finance reports are favorable for Sylvia Garcia because her donors are from the district; if a constituent will give you a dollar, they will vote for you. I do not see the correlation with Tahir’s report. Also, Tahir loaned his campaign money — which is a sign of a struggling campaign.
I suspect it will take more than money to win this campaign because all opponents are not just competing against Sylvia, they are competing against those who have thier eye on the senate seat.
“On a side note, I’m tired of stories that mention that a particular candidate in this cycle could be the first person of a category to be elected to something….”
Careful, Kuff, this kind of thinking will get you labeled as a Trump supporter.