Let’s finish off our review of state offices. This post will cover State Board of Education, District 6, and the State Senate. My two-part look at the State House was here and here, Harris County offices were here, and statewide races were here.
Debra Kerner, SBOE6
Kimberly McLeod, SBOE6
Michelle Palmer, SBOE6
Borris Miles, SD13
Richard Andrews, SD13
Milinda Morris, SD13
Eddie Lucio, SD27
Sara Stapleton-Barrera, SD27
Ruben Cortez, SD27
Audrey Spanko, SD01
Jay Stittleburg, SD04
Carol Alvarado, SD06
Susan Criss, SD11
Margarita Ruiz Johnson, SD11
Randy Daniels, SD12
Shadi Zitoon, SD12
Michael Antalan, SD18
Roland Gutierrez, SD19
Freddy Ramirez, SD19
Xochil Pena Rodriguez, SD19
Robert Vick, SD22
Clayton Tucker, SD24
Candidate Raised Spent Loan On Hand
===================================================
Kerner 10,556 2,636 3,000 16,517
McLeod 1,080 1,948 0 1,080
Palmer 6,076 1,722 0 7,394
Miles 52,650 41,355 656,943 29,950
Andrews 4,575 4,946 3,849 219
Morris 260 4,530 10,000 1,250
Lucio 609,622 750,263 34,557 31,972
Barrera 5,384 150,655 141,560 0
Cortez 78,338 27,777 0 6,126
Spanko 21,253 12,150 0 6,572
Stittleburg 4,574 1,499 0 3,147
Alvarado 204,820 39,550 0 386,687
Criss 15,920 33,063 0 9,697
Johnson
Daniels
Zitoon 3,550 2,573 2,250 3,226
Antalan 0 0 0 0
Gutierrez 188,588 201,288 0 109,337
Ramirez 17,690 11,414 0 5,576
Rodriguez 56,038 63,004 125,000 106,347
Vick 2,630 1,985 550 1,515
Tucker 24,059 12,180 0 2,129
There are three SBOE races of interest around the state, but I limited myself to SBOE6 because no one raises any money for any of them. In the general election they can ride the partisan wave – being a state office, they’re near the top of the ballot, so whatever effect the lack of straight-ticket voting there will be, it should be relatively minimal for them – but in a high turnout primary, who knows what will happen. At least all the choices are good.
There are four contested State Senate primaries. Sen. Borris Miles has two challengers, neither of whom has raised much money. I haven’t seen anything to suggest this is a race of interest. Former District Court Judge and HD23 candidate Susan Criss faces former CD22 candidate Margaret Ruiz Johnson in SD11, which is on the far outer edges of competitiveness – if SD11 turns into a close race in the fall, Democrats are having a very good year. Criss should have some name recognition. Johnson has not filed a report.
The two most interesting races are in SDs 19 and 27. SD19 is the seat Democrats coughed up in a 2018 special election following the resignation of Carlos Uresti. State Rep. Roland Gutierrez, who finished third in that special election, decided to forego running for re-election in order to take another shot at this seat. He’s raised the most money, but Xochil Pena Rodriguez has an equivalent amount of cash thanks to her loan. This is probably Gutierrez’s race to lose. Whoever does win will be counted on to take that seat back and force Dan Patrick to kill off the remnant of the two thirds rule, for his short term benefit and the Democrats’ long term gain.
Sen. Eddie Lucio has two challengers, and his finance report shows he’s taking the threat seriously. Ruben Cortez is an incumbent SBOE member, and he was recently endorsed by Texas Parent PAC, which accused Lucio of “following the lead of Lt. Governor Dan Patrick when he pushes legislation that harms public education.” To me, this is a far more consequential primary than the nasty and expensive one going on in CD28, mostly because there are a lot more Congressfolk than there are State Senators, and one rogue State Senator can be the difference in bad legislation passing or good bills dying in a way that one rogue Congressperson seldom is. Nancy Pelosi can take care of her business with or without Henry Cuellar. Carol Alvarado, the next Senate Democratic Caucus Chair, needs a much more reliable ally in SD27. Here’s hoping she gets one.
This is worth repeating:
To me, this is a far more consequential primary than the nasty and expensive one going on in CD28, mostly because there are a lot more Congressfolk than there are State Senators, and one rogue State Senator can be the difference in bad legislation passing or good bills dying in a way that one rogue Congressperson seldom is. Nancy Pelosi can take care of her business with or without Henry Cuellar. Carol Alvarado, the next Senate Democratic Caucus Chair, needs a much more reliable ally in SD27.
This is true of all of the state races. Predictit.org has the Democrats retaining the Congressional House at about 70%, and honestly, I might take the over.
There is a Melinda Morris running for Senate 13, but it is on the Republican Primary.
The third person running in Senate 13 is Melissa Morris.
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