I would have loved to see The Congressman run for Senate to take out Cornyn; however, I really don’t want to lose his seniority and leadership potential in the US House. So, Joaquin stays home and that is fine by me.
Left to carry the mantle of the establishment Dems is MJ Hegar, who has the support of Chuck Schumer and Emily’s List; although, why Texans would want to listen to Schumer is beyond me, but he holds the wallet that would go to this race. Of course, polling will decide if money actually comes to Texas.
The progressive in the race is Sema Hernandez, who created a South Texas problem for Beto O’Rourke. Sure, Beto earned the majority of votes in November down in South Texas, but turnout should have been better. If Hegar is the nominee, is she willing to work twice as hard as Beto for South Texas? It’s definitely something we’ll all be looking at. Let’s face it, those who follow congressional politics may know who the leading candidate is, but Texas is a big state, especially south of the Nueces River.
Frankly, after seeing how the establishment has treated candidates like Lupe Valdez (2018), Julian Castro (2020), and even Joaquin in making the announcement that he wasn’t running, I don’t get the warm and fuzzies for 2020 and I’m pretty sure Texas Mexicans aren’t feeling it, either. Hell, some lib-labs still question the actions of Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and other women of color. Make me feel warm and fuzzy about the issues that are important to me and my friends and maybe we can talk. For now, I’m skeptical of anything the establishment Dems are offering.
Happy candidate hunting!