The Chron Chron“>endorses in four Congressional primaries, three of which are Dem races.
United States Representative, District 10: Mike Siegel or Tami Walker
Seven candidates are running for this sprawling rural and suburban district that stretches from Austin to (almost) Houston. We recommend that Democratic voters send representatives from those two urban poles to compete in the almost-inevitable runoff: Austin assistant city attorney Mike Siegel and Katy-area attorney Tami Walker.
Siegel, 40, who graduated from Cornell Law School, said his boss once jokingly described Siegel’s job as waking up, suing Gov. Greg Abbott and going home. He is involved in Austin’s lawsuit against SB4, which abrogates local law enforcement discretion on immigration issues. Siegel has the passion of a professional politician, and we mean that as a compliment. However, his focus on renewable energy might fit well in Austin, but will likely run into a few bumps in Houston’s oil and gas enclaves.
Walker, 53, lives in Katy and after graduating from the University of Texas School of Law spent nearly three decades working as an attorney or general counsel in different industries. Her soft-spoken style embodies the moderate position of the suburban, oil patch Democrat.
United States Representative, District 22: Sri Preston Kulkarni
Incumbent Republican Congressman Pete Olson has attracted a total of eight challengers on both sides of the partisan divide to represent this diverse, suburban district that covers part of Harris County, most of Brazoria County and Fort Bend Counties, including Sugar Land. In the five-way Democratic primary, Sri Preston Kulkarni stands out as the most impressive candidate. As a foreign service officer in the U.S. State Department, Kulkarni served in Ukraine, Jerusalem and Iraq. He also worked as a foreign policy advisor to U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. All that international experience doesn’t mean Kulkarni, 39, ever lost his Houston roots. Kulkarni was quick to discuss flooding problems in Cinco Ranch when he met with the Houston Chronicle editorial board. He talks like a real Texan when it comes to energy policy, focusing on the reality of how market forces promote natural gas over coal, and how renewables threaten to do the same for our oil and gas economy. Kulkarni also keeps a focus on the district’s diversity – nearly a quarter Asian – and is promoting his campaign in Spanish, Chinese, Hindi and Vietnamese.
Dayna Steele
United States Representative, District 36: Dayna Steele
Back when she had a talk radio show, Dayna Steele had one rule: Never talk about politics, religion or cats. All that changed with the 2016 election. After taking part in the Women’s March, the former KLOL disc jockey decided to run to represent the massive 36th Congressional District, which sprawls from Galveston Bay to the Louisiana border, including the Johnson Space Center. Despite the district’s size, Steele, 58, has the natural ability to rattle off the specific challenges facing cities and towns that often go ignored in the deep-red district’s traditionally non-competitive races. Those challenges includes the job cuts in the lumber industry, the lack of broadband internet access, and the limited health care services.
“There is a hospital in Orange County, they call it the Band-Aid station, because that’s about all you can get there,” Steele told the editorial board. She says that’s why she supports Medicare for All.
Steele also points out that Congress needs to provide oversight on post-Hurricane Harvey recovery funds to ensure they end up in the poor towns that need help the most.
“It never gets down to the people in Winnie and Rose City and Bridge City and Orange and West Orange,” she said.
My interview with Dayna Steele is here I didn’t get to CDs 10 or 22 – just not enough weeks in the primary season – but will circle back to them for the runoffs. The Chron also had nice things to say about nearly all of the other candidates, which is always good to see. Having a lot of people file for office is one thing, having a lot of good choices is another. By all indications I’ve seen, we have the latter as well as the former.