The March 1 Texas primaries, held in newly drawn congressional districts and with new voter laws in place, set the stage for the 2022 general elections. The new congressional districts are subject to a federal court challenge.
03/08/2022 12:00 P.M.
4 minute read
The Texas primaries held March 1 proved successful for gubernatorial candidates, progressives and Hispanic women from the Republican party, The Hill reports.
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and Democrat challenger Beto O’Rourke “predictably won their parties’ primaries for the gubernatorial nomination, while progressives saw a major win in the 35th Congressional District and Republican Hispanic women saw victories in South Texas,” according to the article.
Abbott won the GOP primary with approximately 68% of the vote to advance to the November election against O’Rourke.
In the seat of retiring U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, former Navy SEAL Morgan Luttrell—who is endorsed by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.—defeated Christian Collins, who previously worked for U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.
The race could have ended in a runoff, but Luttrell secured more than 52% of the vote in the crowded field of 10 other Republicans.
Meanwhile, primaries in two South Texas districts resulted in wins for Hispanic Republican women, according to The Hill.
Republican Monica De La Cruz defeated eight other Republican candidates to win the primary in the 15th Congressional District. Mayra Flores won the Republican primary in the 34th Congressional District.
Flores will face U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, in November.
In the 28th Congressional District, Republican Cassy Garcia will face the winner of a runoff between U.S. Rep. Henry Cueller, D-Texas, and Jessica Cisenros, a progressive immigration attorney, Fox News reports.
U.S. Rep. Van Taylor, R-Texas, announced he is ending his campaign for reelection ahead of a runoff resulting from the five-way primary results March 1, The Texas Tribune reports. He currently serves on the House Financial Services Committee. Keith Self, a former judge in Collin County, Texas, was the runner up to Taylor in the primary and will be the Republican nominee once Taylor officially removes his name from the ballot. Democrat nominee Sandeep Srivastava faces difficult odd in the election due to redistricting, according to the article.
Overall, according to U.S. News & World Report, the Texas primaries had a lower-than-normal turnout after early voting in mid-February and thousands of mail ballots were reportedly rejected.
Redistricting Court Challenge
A federal court challenge from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed Dec. 6, 2021, alleges the state’s new district maps violate the Voting Rights Act, according to NBC News.
According to the report and a statement from Attorney General Merrick Garland, the maps violate the Voting Rights Act because they “deny or abridge the rights of Latino and Black voters to vote on account of their race, color or membership in a language minority group.” The new map in Texas has 24 definite or likely Republican seats, 13 definite or likely seats for Democrats, and one swing seat, according to FiveThirtyEight’s overview of redistricting in the U.S.
However, it appears the redistricting did not impact the March 1 primary. According to the Texas Tribune, a federal panel of judges in El Paso, Texas, denied a request to block one of the redrawn Senate districts from being used in the primary. The case challenged Senate District 10, and unless those in opposition to the redistricting win on appeal in the U.S. Supreme Court, the maps are in effect until the trial in the DOJ’s case later this year, according to the article.
New congressional district maps are being drawn across the U.S., a process that is done every 10 years, ACA International previously reported.
Outside of redistricting, with more than 400 election races ahead this year, including 34 seats in the U.S. Senate and the entire U.S. House of Representatives (435 seats), the 2022 midterm election outcome could already mean another shift in party control in both chambers.
Maps are still being drawn—and redrawn, in some cases—and chances are we haven’t heard the last about retirements in Congress. ACPAC, ACA’s political action committee, will be keeping a careful watch on how things develop as we get closer to the primaries, and we’ll be sure to keep you up to date as we move toward the general election.
“ACA International continues to work to support candidates on both sides of the aisle and is following the redistricting and election process closely as state primaries approach,” said ACA’s Federal Advocacy Director Patrick Russell.
For more on the midterm elections, read Russell’s Midterm Election Primer in the March/April issue of Collector magazine. For more information on ACPAC, ACA members can visit our new website: acainternational.org/advocacy/political-action.
If you have executive leadership updates or other member news to share with ACA, contact our communications department at [email protected]. View our publications page for more information and our news submission guidelines here.