Will The DCCC Lose TX-23 Again By Running Corrupt Blue Dog Pete Gallego?

Former Bernie Bexar County coordinator Rick Treviño

TX-23, the state's largest congressional district, stretches from the suburbs south and west of San Antonio right across west Texas into Socorro and the suburbs east of El Paso. Of the 29 counties in the district, only 4 have significant numbers of voters-- Bexar, El Paso, Medina, and Val Verde. It's the DCCC's #1 electoral priority in Texas for the 2018 midterms. But the DCCC shouldn't even have to be fighting for TX-23. They should own. The district, which is over 70% Latino, went narrowly for Obama in 2008, narrowly for Romney in 2012 and then gave Hillary a 49.8% to 46.4% win over Señor Trumpanzee. That there's a non-Hispanic Republican congressman there is testimony to the DCCC's willful incompetence. They keep running an egregiously corrupt conservative that the district hates, Blue Dog Pete Gallego.

Gallego won the seat in 2012, voted with the Republicans on virtually everything, and was promptly defeated two years later. He ran again last year and, while Hillary was winning the district, he lost to Will Hurd again, this time 109,816 (48.5%) to 106,049 (46.8%). Only as bad a candidate as Gallego could lose to a Republican here. So, of course, he's running again next year, to the delight of the corrupt conservatives in Congress who would love to see him back, helping them to make the Kings Landing swamp ever more fetid and disgusting. [Gallego, who is already openly raising money for the race, says he hasn't decided whether to try for a 4th time or not.] There are 3 other candidates so far so Gallego could have a hard time winning the nomination.

Jay Hulings just resigned as assistant U.S. Attorney and jumped in last week. He's a big-time Castro ally and their wing is pushing him in a really big way, cock-blocking the worthless Gallego at every turn. No one seems to know if Hulings is appreciably less conservative than Gallego-- he worked for right-wing war-monger Jane Harman at one time-- but he's certainly not as corrupt.

Gina Ortiz Jones is another credible candidate in the primary, although her website has, ominously, no issues page, usually a very bad sign. She a former Air Force intelligence officer who saw active duty in Iraq. Her real intelligence and armed services experience would help her go toe-to-toe with Hurd in a general election contest.

Then there's Berniecrat Rick Treviño, a San Antonio high school teacher who ran for City Council this year and narrowly (28 votes) missed a runoff. The San Antonio Bernie crowd loves him and his campaign platform is firmly committed to progressive issues like Medicare-For-All.

"My platform is not going to be tempered by considerations of what corporate donors or the establishment thinks," Treviño said. "I just know what I’m going to do is stick to my issues, stick to my platform." ...Treviño called Gallego's potential candidacy one of the reasons the teacher decided to get in the race. Noting Hillary Clinton won the district while Gallego lost in it in 2016, Treviño said of Gallego: "Why should we entrust him again? Right now there's so much on the line."

The decisions by Hulings and Treviño to enter the race come days come days after a federal court redistricting ruling that left Hurd's 23rd District untouched while invalidating two other districts. Yet the shape of the 23rd district could still be affected, as it shares a border in the San Antonio area with the 35th district, one of the two that are now set to be redrawn.

The DCCC still hasn't bothered to replace their Regional Vice Chair for the crucial Texas area, where so much is at stake. Jared Polis (D-CO) dropped out of the job, having never done anything for it anyway, after he declared he is running for governor of Colorado. So, as usual, the DCCC is giving Texas short shrift (except as a place for fundraising). This morning a member of Congress asked me if the NRCC is as dysfunctional as the DCCC. It's also dysfunctional but in different ways. They'll never be as incompetent as the DCCC under Pelosi but they're close behind.