The Chron makes their pick on the Democratic side for CD02.
Todd Litton
If the primary race in the 7th Congressional District is the major-league showdown for Houston-area Democrats, then consider this election to be the Triple-A minor league version. In a contest between five exciting candidates, we encourage Democrats to back Todd Litton in the primary for the 2nd Congressional District.
Money isn’t everything in politics, but there’s something undeniably impressive about Litton’s ability to make headlines for out-raising incumbent U.S. Rep. Ted Poe last year. It was a sign that this oft-unchallenged district was, for the first time in years, facing a real political competition. Now Poe has announced that he won’t run for reelection, and Democrats will face a rookie candidate on the Republican side. If they hope to win, Democrats will need someone who can do the hard work of running a serious campaign in this sprawling, gerrymandered district that stretches from Montrose through Spring, Kingwood and Humble, and Litton has proven that he’s got what it takes.
They also had some nice words for Silky Malik. You can hear all the interviews I did with the CD02 candidates – I did eventually get to talk to all five of them – on the 2018 Congressional page.
You can see all the Chron’s endorsements here. I’m tracking endorsements on my pages, and Erik Manning has a comprehensive set of endorsements along with more candidate information on this Google spreadsheet. One thing you might note as you look at that is that there are an awful lot of races in which the Chron has not yet offered an opinion, and that’s without taking into account the Republican side of the equation. With only nine days to go till early voting starts – and hell, with only 23 days till Election Day – it’s hard to see how they cover everything in the time remaining. I don’t think they need to do them all – incumbents being challenged by no-names could reasonably be skipped, for instance – but there are some that really demand action. For instance:
Statewide – So far, we have their endorsement for Governor on the Dem side, and for one contested Republican race for Court of Criminal Appeals. But US Senate, Lite Guv, Land Commissioner, and Railroad Commissioner are at issue on both sides, plus Comptroller on the Dem side. I’ve got to say, the three lower-tier races for Dem nominations are up in the air for me. I’d love to see the Chron’s take on them.
Congress – The Republican race for CD02 is the obvious one missing here. I’ll be surprised if we don’t see it soon. The most interesting ones after that, at least as far as November competitiveness goes, are the Dems in CDs 10 and 22, and the Republican challenge to John Culberson in CD07.
Legislature – Both sides in SD17 and HD134, and the Dem races in the swingiest districts – HDs 126, 132, and 138 – should be the priorities.
County – None of these have been done yet. I have to assume they’re coming, hopefully this week.
Judicial – This is easily the best-covered group. Far as I can tell, all that remains are the county criminal courts and the JPs.
So there you have it. My advice to the Chron editorial board is to rest up after March 6, and start planning very early for November. Like, maybe get started in August, or even July. You have a lot of work ahead of you.
HD 133 has two Democrat candidates for the primary. Now that State Rep./Westchase GM Jim Murphy is facing a conflict of interests investigation, it might have become more competitive for the general election.
Kathaleen Wall’s awkward walkout on the Young Republican forum last week is captured here:
https://www.facebook.com/MYWiltshire/videos/10210860858692786/
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