In Brownsville, a Goliath has stumbled. After 29 years in the Texas Senate, Eddie Lucio—the upper chamber’s most conservative Democrat—has been pushed into a runoff. Facing two opponents in his first serious challenge since 1992, the 74-year-old Lucio fell just a fifth of a percentage point shy of winning State Senate District 27’s Democratic primary outright. Lucio will now face Sara Stapleton-Barrera, a Brownsville trial attorney and daughter of a former Cameron County Democratic chair who’s never held public office.
Over the years, Lucio’s made plenty of enemies. Early on, he pushed pro-business “tort reform,” alienating unions and farmworkers. Both pious and prejudiced, he has consistently voted against LGBTQ rights and women’s reproductive freedom. In recent weeks, a host of progressive groups either endorsed one of his challengers or simply endorsed against him. If Stapleton-Barrera—who supports LGBTQ rights and is comparatively liberal on abortion—can ultimately unseat him, that should add a senator to the Democratic column in some votes.
