It was not just Moser, who was a lead pipe cinch looser in a general election, but in each of the competitive congressional races today the âmoderateâ (aka electable) candidate won. Fletcher beat Moser (Houston suburbs); Ortiz Jones beat Trevino (to face Will Hurt in the border district, tx-23), Hegar beat Mann (in Tx-31, north of Austin), and Kopser beat Wilson (Tx-21, West of Austin).
All are competitive races, and in all the Dâs got their preferred GE candidate.
In KY, while the âunderdogâ won, she is a military veteran and beat the first openly gay elected official (mayor of Louisville) and I think is probably the better GE candidate. While the DCCC recruited the mayor, the winner ran a much better race, and the DCCC after recruiting did not take sides.
Ditto in the Seat for Little Rock. Tucker was the most âconservativeâ candidate, and may be able to beat Hill (R-Little Rock) in the GE.
About the only race today where the âprogressiveâ won was in the GA gubernatorial race where Adams beat Evens. It will be an interesting one to watch.
The Dâs did not toss away any winnable seats, unlike with the Omaha seat last week, thank god⌠
Full disclosure: Fletcher is a friendly acquaintance of mine from long ago. I donated $50 to her campaign, although Iâm not in her district.
Because I knew Lizzie way back when, I paid more attention than usual to this race, especially when it became a national shitstorm because of the DCCCâs ham-handed intervention. Even after looking, Iâm not sure I can really identify a single meaningful policy difference between the two. That shouldnât be all that surprising, though.
Good for Fletcher for winning, and good for Moser for conceding gracefully and keeping her eyes on the prize. I hope other Democrats in other races, âmoderateâ and âanti-establishmentâ alike, will do the same.
I know progressives will probably be upset about that but they should really take a look at that Congressional District before getting upset at Fletcher and/or the DCCC. Culberson first won in November 2000 and Hillary winning the district by 1% was pretty astounding.
Gray, and heâs a very good man, is the mayor of Lexington not Louisville. But, to your point, the far left lost up and down the ballot in KY.
Think purple.
my bad, yes Lexington. Everything I have heard about him is a great mayor and a good guy. Obviously the ânew kidâ on the block one. It was a race where the Dâs had two good GE candidates. I understood some Dâs were unhappy she did not run in the 4th District where she was born and grew up.
Having grown up partially in Oklahoma, I well know that to win you have to run in the district, and what will sell in SF where I live, will not sell in KY (other than Louisville, I guess in part. )
To get a majority, Dems will have to win seats in districts that, on average, are more conservative than the ones they hold now. Respect the votes of those who live in those districts.
Stick together and fight for the big difference between the GOP and the Democrats. If we get a majority, the finer differences within the party will have some meaning.
Your friend lost the runoff election in Houston. To set the record right, Laura Moser was first to attack Lizzie Fletcher, trying to label her as an establishment candidate. Personally I resent that a person like Lizzie Fletcher, who is an accomplished lawyer and recognized leader in her community be dismissed in that manner by a some pisher with pretensions of being a journalist and progressive activist. No wonder that DCCC got involved and pushed back. Moserâs campaign capitalized on the distrust and anger generated by Bernie Sanders acolytes to stir up mud against Lizzie and raise Moserâs profile. These are local elections, and the districtâs decision is clear.
There is an intrinsic merit to all the victors here. I firmly believe that local grassroots voters generally factor in (1) basic partisan preferences; and (2) a sense of which candidate would be the best bet to defeat the GOP in November. Sometimes this results in the DCCC favorite winningâas in Texasâsometimes in the DCCC favorite losing. Itâs democracy. Letâs start looking ahead.
Thatâs my district. I couldnât tell much from Trevinoâs boilerplate campaign flyers where the hell he stood. Ortiz Jones clearly had more funding. She also had my vote. Hurd isnât maximally terrible, as Repugnants go, but heâs plenty terrible enough.
Typical DCCC. Always Backing Republican Lite Dems wherever they can. I. Hate. the DCCC and the DNC. They are traitors to the Democratic party.
I donât understand the thinly veiled hostility of this piece. A clear underdog lost. She was never really much of a threat. So why the âdown in flamesâ headline? Or the chops-licking âbete noirâ snigger. Itâs hardly the only swipe the DCCC has made against fellow Democrats this cycle, or, for that matter, RECENTLY. There are other websites where gleeful sarcasm is the raison dâetre of the editorial voice (see how French phrases are kind of irritating?), I just expect a little more sober reporting from TPM.
Don Blankenship welcomes you, fellow traveler.
You donât understand the âthinly veiled hostilityâ? where were you when Bernie was trashing the Democrats? You probably donât understand chickens coming home to roost either.
Abrams is a long time Dem supported by Clinton. Evans had the Bernie wing support.
Smart voting by Democrats.
How âleftâ is too âfarâ for your âelectableâ Dems? Linderman in US House Dist 2 is not at all to the right of the Berniecrats; those DCCC-loved RepubliDems whom the TPM Commentariat seems convinced are the only candidates who will save âus.â
Headline says:
Anti-Establishment Dem Laura Moser Goes Down In Flames In Texas
If the writer had ever (literally) watched friends going down in flames, this line could not have been written.
Ergo the hostility is not veiled at all, never mind thinly.