Texas Democrats’ question: which governor candidate can help ticket?
In the dream, Valdez is campaigning in the border community of
Wednesday night, at a lively rally at the Pan American Courts food truck park and beer garden in
"Lupe's story is like mine," Gonzales said of growing up without sidewalks or indoor plumbing. "I said, 'Yes, that's the one.' And
O'Rourke, a three-term congressman from
Does Gonzales, who said she already has brought 100 folks to early vote in
"No, actually," she said. "I don't want to know nothing about him. I'm focusing on Lupe."
For
"Any Democratic candidate running statewide has to acknowledge that Beto is going to be the high-water mark," said
When he jumped in the race in December, White, the son of former Gov.
But, after a halting start, White, who made a small fortune as a
"That's not a fluke," said
"I have no idea why
"She's a rah-rah girl," Donohue said of Valdez. "She needs to play that role. She needs to get people out to vote."
But, despite her sometimes rough ride, Valdez's appearance before a delighted crowd in
"We need to get the Latinos fired up and voting," declared a fired-up Valdez. "My name is
Emotional connection
At the Pan American Court, a cultural and political gathering spot, her audience seemed to love everything about Valdez -- her recounting of her hardscrabble
"I can tell you that more people identify here with her than do with Beto, and I think it's because she represents a cross section of everything that
Barrera, who founded the Webb County Young Democrats, will needle those Hispanic Republicans, telling them, "but she's for abortion," and he said they'll respond, "Well, you can't like everything about a person."
"I think you've got a lot of people here who don't know any other single candidate but who know who she is because of Hispanic media," Barrera said. "You see a lot of coverage, especially here in a border town."
Barrera was impressed when he walked with O'Rourke through a
"I've heard
"I just have to listen to her because if not, I'm going to get emotional because my grandmother didn't get the chance to do X, Y and Z, because she was born into a machismo culture that held her down and she, to this day, still holds to those tenets," Barrera said. But, he said, his grandmother has made it very clear, "I'm going to vote for her."
O'Rourke "is going to win this county," Barrera said. "It's just a question of how big he is going to win it."
And that might depend in some measure on who the Democratic candidate for governor is.
Latino turnout
Both
In the Democratic primary, Valdez won 12,191 votes, or 58.7 percent of the vote in
Turnout is everything. The big difference for
O'Rourke, working tirelessly for more than a year, has devoted himself to visiting all 254 counties in
White's counterargument is that, most urgently, "what we need is a candidate at the top of the ticket who can organize a campaign. She doesn't help the ticket in money-raising. She doesn't help the ticket in being able to articulate policy and a vision for the state. If she's going to help Beto, she's going to have to learn all these other things, which she's proven not to be able to do, so the question is not helping with one group or the other. The question is can you help the ticket, which I've proven I can in more ways than one."
White pointed to a Quinnipiac Poll released in mid-April, which rated the
While the poll found Abbott with strong job approval numbers, it also gave him only 7 points more than White, 48 percent to White's 41 percent. Abbott had 9 points more than Valdez, 49 percent to her 40 percent.
"To be able to say I'm within 7 points, and people really don't know who I am -- I think the Democratic donors will be excited to see what we have to offer in this general election," White told the
Overall, White has raised
"
'Not your everyday politician'
With
"A year ago,
But those are fighting words for
"Lupe's going to help us as Latinos to stop the hate," Gonzales. "I think it's not fair to stop me and ask me for my papers."
In fact, it was Gonzales' eldest son,
White said it's clear that Abbott sees Valdez as an easier mark and is focusing his attention on her in hopes of helping her win the nomination.
"He's aware that I'm not the average person that has gone against him," Valdez told the Statesman. "I think he's just getting an early start. He's starting earlier because he knows he's got a challenge ahead of him. I'm not your everyday politician."
Valdez is untroubled by any stumbles along the way.
"You get better as you go," Valdez said. "This is not my first election. When have I done one that was easy?"
Valdez said that if she is the nominee she is prepared to address the full range of issues a governor must confront.
"We're up to the challenge. We will be where I need to be," she said.
An avatar of Hispanic ascendance
Valdez expects the general election campaign to get ugly.
"He's going to tear me down any way he can -- this way and that way and that way and that way, he's going to tear me down," Valdez said of Abbott. "But when it's over I'm still going to be standing."
"'It is going to be unpleasant," Valdez said. "That's the type of human being he is."
Abbott wants to crush Valdez the way he crushed Davis, defeating her by 20 points, but that might be difficult.
But Abbott also has bragged about winning 44 percent of the Hispanic vote in 2014. He has said that it is imperative that the first Latino governor of
Block said that if Valdez is the nominee and she cuts into Abbott's margin with Latinos, she can, even without winning, help set up the Democratic narrative going forward.
"He can say, 'Well that's because I was running against an Hispanic candidate and surely she was going to do better than
In serving that purpose, Blank said of Valdez, "Her biggest weakness may also be her biggest strength. She's not a very good politician per se, but she's a good avatar of the Hispanic ascendance in the state."
O'Rourke won't say who he's voting for in the runoff, though he publicly nudged Valdez to accept a debate with White to better inform undecided voters like himself. Apart from passing greetings when they crossed paths twice at
But, Valdez said, that's understandable.
"We've both been busy as all get-out," she said.
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