Two Democratic candidates are most likely to make history as the first Latino women from Texas to serve in Congress.
Candidates Veronica Escobar and Sylvia Garcia won the Democratic primaries in their respective races, which Democrats consider to be safe seats that will be easily held in the general election. In Texas, there are five Latinos that are currently serving in the congressional delegation. Also, as of 2012, Senator Ted Cruz became the first Latino from Texas to serve in the Senate. The state has never previously elected a Latino woman to serve in Congress.
As a replacement for Democratic Representative. Beto O’Rourke, Escobar won the nomination over five other Democratic candidates with nearly 61 percent of the vote. The Hill reports that Escobar, a former El Paso County judge, was endorsed by EMILY’s List and was backed by O’Rourke, who vacated the seat to mount a Senate campaign against Cruz. She will go against Republican Rick Seeberger in the general election but is expected an easy win in the El Paso-based district where the last time a Republican won was in 1963.
Garcia who will be replacing retiring Democratic Representative Gene Green won the nomination with more than 64 percent of the vote. She was endorsed by both Green and EMILY’s List. According to The Hill, Garcia, a state senator, was initially seen as having a clear path to the nomination in the Houston-area district. But the entrance of another candidate backed by Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer appeared to threaten her ability to avert a May runoff.
Tahir Javed who was Obama’s Healthcare executive managed to get into his campaign $800,000 since jumping into the race last year. However, Garcia still won with a majority of the vote to secure the nomination.
The two Republican candidates, Phillip Aronoff and Carmen Montiel will have their runoff on May 22 to see who will square off against Garcia in November.
Be the first to comment