Color me surprised regarding the Texas Dem Senate primary. Christian white guy defeats tenacious black woman...who'd have guessed that would happen? But Texas is Texas. Gotta say, thus far, Talarico doesn't present to me as the powerful force against the fascist regime that Crockett has, and would have, been. His low key and religiously infused admonitions against the right wing deconstruction of our democracy does not give one the sense that he would be a fierce and mighty warrior opposing the existing corruption in our political system. That his campaign casts "billionaires and corporate greed as the root of society's problems" while taking donations from the Texas Sand PAC (which is backed by Miriam Adelson) is also concerning. But we shall see. Should he win the general election, time will tell if his future actions reflect his campaign positioning as a progressive champion - that would be a boon to us all. Good luck to him in the general.
Very helpful analysis, thank you. The framing of the TX race is clearer than anything else I've read. But you totally missed the biggest progressive win in NC, Rev. Rodney Sadler defeating renegade incumbent state house member Carla Cunningham in Charlotte. Hers was THE vote that allowed R's to override Gov. Stein's veto of the law requiring county sheriffs to hold every person until they'd communicated with ICE. And hers was the product of alignment with outside groups the most -- Carolina Federation (and two colleague groups) have a People's Bench campaign that recruited and trained Rev. Sadler, who is a close colleague of Rev. William Barber. All In for NC ran a big phone bank and fundraised for him. UNITE HERE ran a huge IE canvass for him and all the other state rep races you appropriately cited.
I appreciate you saying that! I mention the NC legislature flip’s briefly at the end but I’d love to do a story on the incredible grassroots sequence of events that you’re describing.
"Two incumbents, state Reps. Nasif Majeed and Shelly Willingham, were ousted by Democratic voters after years spent helping Republicans override the vetoes of Democratic Govs. Roy Cooper and Josh Stein. A third Cooper antagonist, former Democratic Rep. Michael Wray, attempted to make a comeback after losing in 2024, only to get pasted by more than 25% points tonight."
Oh good, maybe breaking the supermajority will finally fucking mean something.
Color me surprised regarding the Texas Dem Senate primary. Christian white guy defeats tenacious black woman...who'd have guessed that would happen? But Texas is Texas. Gotta say, thus far, Talarico doesn't present to me as the powerful force against the fascist regime that Crockett has, and would have, been. His low key and religiously infused admonitions against the right wing deconstruction of our democracy does not give one the sense that he would be a fierce and mighty warrior opposing the existing corruption in our political system. That his campaign casts "billionaires and corporate greed as the root of society's problems" while taking donations from the Texas Sand PAC (which is backed by Miriam Adelson) is also concerning. But we shall see. Should he win the general election, time will tell if his future actions reflect his campaign positioning as a progressive champion - that would be a boon to us all. Good luck to him in the general.
Very helpful analysis, thank you. The framing of the TX race is clearer than anything else I've read. But you totally missed the biggest progressive win in NC, Rev. Rodney Sadler defeating renegade incumbent state house member Carla Cunningham in Charlotte. Hers was THE vote that allowed R's to override Gov. Stein's veto of the law requiring county sheriffs to hold every person until they'd communicated with ICE. And hers was the product of alignment with outside groups the most -- Carolina Federation (and two colleague groups) have a People's Bench campaign that recruited and trained Rev. Sadler, who is a close colleague of Rev. William Barber. All In for NC ran a big phone bank and fundraised for him. UNITE HERE ran a huge IE canvass for him and all the other state rep races you appropriately cited.
I appreciate you saying that! I mention the NC legislature flip’s briefly at the end but I’d love to do a story on the incredible grassroots sequence of events that you’re describing.
"Two incumbents, state Reps. Nasif Majeed and Shelly Willingham, were ousted by Democratic voters after years spent helping Republicans override the vetoes of Democratic Govs. Roy Cooper and Josh Stein. A third Cooper antagonist, former Democratic Rep. Michael Wray, attempted to make a comeback after losing in 2024, only to get pasted by more than 25% points tonight."
Oh good, maybe breaking the supermajority will finally fucking mean something.
The only issue I have with Talarico is the money he got from the Adelsons, is it only because of pro-gambling positions or there's more?
The lesson is that nobody has to steal the vote, nobody has to rig elections, when you got a gullible crowd that’s easy to manipulate.