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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDemocratic early voting in Texas is up by just a bit. And by that I mean THREE HUNDRED PERCENT.
Tim Murphy Feb. 21, 2018 2:41 PM
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/02/the-2018-election-started-tuesday-with-one-jaw-dropping-stat/
The 2018 election officially began on Tuesday with the first day of early voting ahead of Texas March 6th primaries. Evidently, a lot of people got the message. In Harris County, which includes Houston and is the states largest population center, Republican turnout was 25-percent higher than the first day of early-voting in the 2014 primaries. That makes some sensetheres an expensive state house of representatives race in the county and an open Republican-leaning congressional district. But whats more surprising is the turnout jump on the Democratic sidea full 300 percent.
w/ @GabMoBanks https://t.co/JnDo9EnCAi
Robert Downen (@RobDownenChron) February 21, 2018
Harris County was one of the few bright spots for Democrats in 2016, and that momentum has carried over into the current cycle. A big reason for that turnout boost: the extremely competitive Democratic primary in the states seventh congressional district. The seventh, which extends from Houston to Katy, is an archetype of the kind of seat progressives are targeting with new fervor in 2018affluent, suburban, highly-educated, and very diverse. And the field reflects the kind of candidates that are running for Democratic nominations in 2018a cancer researcher worried about budget cuts and coverage gaps; a lawyer who has worked with reproductive rights groups; a freelance writer who launched an online tool to help users pressure members of Congress; and the director of a non-profit that works with refugees.
Wounded Bear
(58,437 posts)RussBLib
(8,984 posts)The GOP margin of victory has been 1-10%. Increase Dem turnout by 300% and Texas becomes royal blue.
rownesheck
(2,343 posts)Went today and cast my votes! There are so many candidates and positions to vote for, i had to make a list. The way i decide who to vote for when I'm not sure, is to look at who endorses them. I always choose who the lgbt community endorses because i want candidates friendly to their cause.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)and consult endorsements for all the judges and minor officials I'd never heard of. Same thse days in Georgia. Lots shorter ballots, but many people aren't covered well or at all in the press and looking them up does little good.
In any case, congrats on being a wave.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)and representation in Texas in general,
That might not be such a big deal in a lot of places, but its highly unusual in Texas. There are just three women in the states 36-member congressional delegation, and its been that way for a whileother than Republican Rep. Shelley Sekula-Gibbs two-month stint in 2006 (she filled out the remainder of ex-Rep. Tom Delays term), Texas hasnt elected a new woman to Congress this millennium. Reps. Eddie Bernice Johnson and Sheila Jackson Lee were the second and third Democratic women ever to represent Texas in Congress when they were elected in the early 1990s. There hasnt been a fourth. ... That will almost certainly change this year. ...
The surge of women candidates reflects the nature of the Trump-inspired Resistance itselfthe logical evolution of a movement that progressed from womens marches and private Facebook groups to Indivisible chapters and candidate trainings held by groups like EMILYs List and its Texas counterpart, Annies List. Democrats have had waves before; but if they catch another one this fall, it will look a lot different than years past."
Miles Archer
(18,837 posts)Too much is too much, you know? His life's been a matter of public record for decades, but the details have become overwhelming.
It's not just his attitude toward women, it's the way his agenda affects women directly.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)congressmen's and senators'. The latter are doing their best to make Trump the fall guy for what they're doing of course.
Gothmog
(143,999 posts)Hortensis
(58,785 posts)that Texas has no zoning laws, that chemical plants and residences can be built among each other. I was wondering if Texans are basically proud of that freedom? Perhaps more women in government might conceivably some day affect that, or not?
nolabear
(41,915 posts)And we are hunting YOU, GOP.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)NastyRiffraff
(12,448 posts)You can do it. When Democrats show up to vote, we win. Remember, Texas wasn't always red. It can be blue again!
Gothmog
(143,999 posts)LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)Great line from the Houston Chronicle...
"Tuesday night's win was the 37th Republican-held legislative seat that Democrats have snared since Trump was sworn in."
I'm enjoying simply reading that over and over again this morning.