Texas Democrats Face a Choice Between Principles and Practicality in the Governor's Race
Texas Democrats suddenly face a crisis of conscience–the purity of principles versus the practical question of whether to support a centrist candidate in the primary who might, maybe, actually be able to defeat Republican Governor Greg Abbott in the fall.
Up until now, Democrats could dismiss centrist businessman Andrew White as a Republican lite, the son of a former governor who had been a teenager in the privileged world of the governor’s mansion. They could, in good faith, cast a ballot for former Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez, a daughter of a migrant farmworker family. As a gay Latina, Valdez could bring diversity to the Democratic ticket and perhaps prompt Hispanics to vote. Besides, the race against Abbott is believed to be unwinnable, so vote your conscience.
That shattered this weekend when the Houston GLBT Political Caucus endorsed White over Valdez, and the Dallas Morning News also gave White the nod in an editorial that eviscerated Valdez’s knowledge of state government. The Houston Chronicle endorsed White as the candidate most likely to defeat Abbott, and named little-known Dallas investment banker Adrian Ocegueda as the newspaper’s second choice in the crowded Democratic field.
Valdez, the Chronicle wrote, “stumbled” in her interview with the paper’s editorial staff. That was kind compared to what her hometown newspaper said:
At one point, Valdez, 70, volunteered that she didn’t know whether the state was spending $8 million or $8 billion on border control. (It’s closer $800 million.) On college tuition, she first suggested the Legislature “and stakeholders” should set tuition rates, but then contradicted herself, and she later said the state should move to reduce local property tax rates, apparently unaware of those set by local jurisdictions.
Read more: https://www.texasmonthly.com/politics/texas-democrats-principles-practicality-governors/
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