Texas runoff elections are often replete with political upsets. But Tuesday night largely came and went without such drama. Attorney General Ken Paxton trounced his opponent, Land Commissioner George P. Bush, by a two-to-one margin. All the scandal-plagued, ethically challenged top lawman had to do to win was point to his opponent’s last name to remind GOP voters that the last scion of the once-mighty political dynasty is just another establishment crony.
Brownsville-native Rochelle Garza—a former reproductive rights lawyer for the ACLU—easily beat former Galveston Mayor Joe Jaworski by more than 20 points to secure the Democratic nomination for attorney general. She is the first Latina to win the Democratic nomination for Texas attorney general and, if elected, would become the first Latina to hold the office. Garza will also be the only candidate of color on the Democrats’ statewide ticket. The party has long struggled to field a slate of competitive candidates representative of its voters.
In the general election, Garza will face Paxton, who is seen as the most vulnerable of all the statewide Republican incumbents. Still, in what’s expected to be a bruising midterm cycle for Democrats, the party’s statewide candidates—from gubernatorial hopeful Beto O’Rourke on down—remain longshots.
