Justin Miller
By Justin Miller:
Texas Democrats Thought 2020 Would Be a Banner Year. Instead, It Was a Catastrophe.
Republicans will now lock in their majority for years to come.
Headed into election night, Democrats were bullish about their chances of flipping the Texas House, seizing a handful of GOP congressional seats, and maybe even delivering the state’s 38 electoral votes for Joe Biden. After promising gains in 2018, Texas … Read More
What Will A Texas-Sized Turnout Mean for Trump and Cornyn?
With record voter turnout in early voting, Texas is a presidential toss-up. John Cornyn is getting worried.
The last time U.S. Senator John Cornyn was up for reelection in 2014, he skated to a third term with 62 percent of the vote—outperforming every other statewide GOP candidate on the ballot who had a contested election in Texas. … Read More
If Not Now, When? Dems’ Fight for the House Will Shape Texas Politics for Years
Democrats hope to end nearly 20 years of GOP dominance in the state government.
The number is etched in Sharon Hirsch’s mind: 391. That’s how many votes she lost her 2018 race against Republican state Representative Matt Shaheen by, in Collin County’s House District 66. If 10 more people in each precinct had voted … Read More
Voting Begins in a Month. Here’s What Is at Stake in Texas.
In an election that will chart the state’s political future for a generation, Democrats are waging an unprecedented offensive against embattled Republicans.
In late November 2018, just weeks after U.S. Senator Ted Cruz eked out a win against Democratic phenom Beto O’Rourke, Texas’ senior U.S. Senator John Cornyn went on the radio with a warning: “Texas is no longer, I believe, a … Read More
Five Months Later, the State’s Unemployment System is Still Broken for Many Texans
The state’s unemployment insurance system was woefully unprepared when the COVID-fueled economic crisis hit in March. Months later, unemployed Texans are still struggling to get—and keep—their benefits.
In March, after losing her job with Rolfson Oil, Laura Orozco filed for unemployment. Her claim was denied. The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC), which administers the state’s unemployment insurance system, said that based on the agency’s formula, she hadn’t earned … Read More
Joaquin Castro Says He’ll Champion Progressive Foreign Policy
The representative from San Antonio is vying to become the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
San Antonio U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro is vying to become chair of one of the most powerful committees in Washington: the House Foreign Affairs Committee. But to do so, he’ll have to overcome the centrist and pro-military forces in the … Read More
From Boom to Bloodbath
The Permian Basin’s shale revolution is over and renewable energy is surging. What does that mean for Texas’ future?
From Boom to Bloodbath The Permian Basin’s shale revolution is over and renewable energy is surging. What does that mean for Texas’ future? By Justin Miller July 27, 2020 For the past three years, Josh Thomas labored away on … Read More
Historic Runoff Turnout Sets Stage for Texas Democrats in 2020’s ‘Biggest Battleground’
MJ Hegar won a contested Senate runoff and Democrats broke their record for runoff turnout as nearly 1 million voters cast ballots.
The Texas primaries in March feel like a lifetime ago. Soon after Super Tuesday, the coronavirus pandemic spread across the country and ground political campaigns to a halt. Governor Greg Abbott delayed the runoff elections by two months while state … Read More
Amid a National Reckoning Over Racial Injustice, Royce West Seeks to Upset MJ Hegar—and the DSCC
Texas’ Democratic Senate runoff to face John Cornyn has taken on new political significance as a Black state senator vies to defeat the national party’s favored candidate.
Texas Democratic Senate candidate Royce West was fed up. In the final days of early voting for the runoff election, frontrunner MJ Hegar put out a new ad in which she says that Texans will “stand together against the systemic … Read More