Mixed Results for Berniecrats in Texas

UPDATE: A handful of candidates have been added to the list. 

It wasn’t a bad thing to be a Berniecrat candidate in the Texas Democratic primaries this year. Not that it was a great thing — but it definitely wasn’t bad. The Observer compiled a list of 25 congressional and state legislative candidates — consisting of some endorsed by the Bernie Sanders-affiliated group Our Revolution Texas, others endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America and a couple who met the criteria but weren’t endorsed by those groups. Of those, four candidates won outright, nine made it to runoffs, and twelve lost. That’s a success rate of a little over 50, pending the runoffs in May.

The highlight may have been Laura Moser, a progressive candidate who was attacked by the Democratic Congressional Coordinating Committee this month and beat out a million-dollar candidate to make it to a runoff in Houston’s 7th Congressional District. José “Chito” Vela, an Austin immigration attorney, ended up the top vote-getter in the race to replace state Representative Dawnna Dukes, and he’ll be heading to a runoff with former Austin City Council member Sheryl Cole. Steven Kling won a tight race outright for the nomination in state Senate District 25, earning him the right to challenge New Braunfels tea partier Dr. Donna Campbell.

A letdown for Austin progressives was the failure of environmental activist Derrick Crowe to make a runoff in CD 21 — a consequence of Cedar Park pastor Mary Street Wilson’s dark horse victory. Arturo Alonzo, a fiery candidate in Brownsville, placed third in his three-way primary, and Tom Wakely, the “Berniecrat with the Panama Hat” who loves La Quinta Inns, performed abysmally in the gubernatorial race.

What to make of a success rate just over 50? Well, no one can say the Sanders approach can’t work in the Lone Star State, at least in terms of making it through a Democratic primary. Here’s the list:

Tom Wakely — Governor — Loss

Derrick Crowe — CD 21 — Loss

Rick Trevino — CD 23 — Runoff

Chris Perri — CD 25 — Runoff

Brent Beal — CD 1 — Loss

Ali Khorasani — CD 2 — Loss

Justin Snider — CD 6 — Loss

Linsey Fagan — CD 26 — Win

Adrienne Bell — CD 14 — Win

Mike Siegel — CD 10 — Runoff

Veronica Escobar — CD 16 — Win

Dale Mantey — CD 17 — Loss

Steve Brown — CD 22 — Loss

Hector Morales — CD 29 — Loss

Laura Moser — CD 7 — Runoff

Christine Mann — CD 31 — Runoff

Steven Kling — SD 25 — Win

Fran Watson — SD 17 — Runoff

Allison Campolo — SD 10 — Loss

Dylan Forbis — HD 29 — Loss

Erin Zwiener — HD 45 — Runoff

Candace Aylor — HD 47 — Loss

José “Chito” Vela — HD 46 — Runoff

Andrew Morris — HD 64 — Runoff

Arturo Alonzo — HD 37 — Loss