Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Democrats Wanted To Flip Ron Wright’s Seat. Instead They Wonder Why They Were Shut Out

May 10, 2021

So far in 2021, the DCCC has spent:

But, they spent exactly zero dollars to boost turnout in TX-06 and failed to get a Democrat on the ballot in a district they’ve targeted for the last two cycles.

When the Fort Worth Star-Telegram contacted the DCCC and DNC to ask why, they did not respond to a request for comment.

In Case You Missed It…

Democrats Wanted To Flip Ron Wright’s Seat. Instead They Wonder Why They Were Shut Out

Eleanor Dearman

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

May 10, 2021

https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/article251155434.html

Democrat Jana Lynne Sanchez, confident the Congressional District 6 seat could be flipped, thought she would be in a runoff with Republican Susan Wright for the U.S. House seat that was held by Wright’s husband.

Instead, Democrats were shut out of a runoff in the special election.

Wright received 19.2% of the votes and Republican state Rep. Jake Ellzey 13.9%, according to unofficial results from the Texas Secretary of State’s office. Just 354 votes separated Ellzey and Sanchez.

Political analysts and observers say low Democrat turnout, a field of 23 candidates and a district that favors Republicans played a role in keeping a Democrat out of the race.

While former President Trump credits his endorsement of Wright, Sanchez thinks the outcome on May 1 could have been different if the state Democratic Party did more to step in and support a single candidate.

The district covers southeast Tarrant County, including most of Arlington and Mansfield, and all of Ellis and Navarro counties. The special election was called after the death of U.S. Rep. Ron Wright in February. A date for the runoff has not been set.

“Just stand back during this runoff, because it will get ugly, and I’ll get loud,” said Matt Angle, director of the Lone Star Project, which works to elect Democrats.

WHAT WENT WRONG FOR DEMOCRATS IN TX-06?

Most of the district’s voters were concentrated in Tarrant County, where 52,752 people cast ballots. There were 20,917 votes cast in Ellis County and 4,705 in Navarro.

Looking closer at Tarrant County, Wright won with 17.4% of the vote. Sanchez was second at 15.7%, and Democrat Shawn Lassiter received 11.3%. Sanchez and Lassiter did well in southeast Tarrant County.

The morning after the election, Rice University political science professor Mark Jones said the fragmented votes between Democrats was something the party couldn’t afford with two strong Republican candidates like Wright and Ellzey on the ballot.

It’s clear Democratic voters didn’t turn out with the same level of enthusiasm as their Republican counterparts, Jones said. Democrats won less than 40% of all the votes.

“While Democrats will attempt to pass this off as a district that they never had any hope of winning — and they are right, it’s a pink district that leans toward the Republican Party — it still was their best hope during 2021 of all the special elections of actually flipping a Republican held seat,” Jones said.

Democrat Stephen Daniel, who ran for the seat in 2020 against Ron Wright but did not run in the special election, agrees that lagging Democratic turnout was a key factor in why a Democrat didn’t advance. In 2020, there was a push to get voters to the polls, he said. He won 44% of the votes to Wright’s 53%.

“I wish the national party would have stepped in,” he said. “They didn’t have to pick a horse in the race. I know there were the 10 Democrats running, but they didn’t have to pick anybody. They just had to drive turnout.”

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democratic National Committee did not immediately return requests for comment.

Angle pointed to three reasons he believes a Democrat didn’t advance: Several capable candidates, but none was dominant; a crowded field; and a district drawn to favor Republicans.

Angle wasn’t surprised that national organizations sat out. (Some, such as the Latino Victory Fund, the BOLD PAC and the Collective PAC , did weigh in on the race.) The Lone Star Project didn’t pick sides in the first round, he said.

“It was so unpredictable,” Angle said. “It didn’t make sense for Democratic organizations to spend a lot of money in the first round. Had a Democrat made the runoff, then you reassess.”

COULD A TEXAS DEMOCRATS ENDORSEMENT HAVE CHANGED THE OUTCOME?

Sanchez wishes the state Democratic Party would have taken advantage of a rule that allows it make an endorsement in a special election. But a party official said the rule is rarely, if ever, used.

“What the chair did do, which was I think the absolute appropriate action, is prepare to put forth the best effort we possibly could in a runoff,” said Bill Brannon, senior adviser at the Texas Democratic Party.

Sanchez said she would have backed whoever was picked, and an endorsement would have allowed for organization around a single candidate, including when it comes to fundraising. She described donor confusion over who had the best chance of winning, and a Democratic Party that she said was focused more on fairness than winning.

“The fact that there is a rule that could have been used to have prevented this debacle is central to this,” she said.

Sanchez said the national party was in a “very difficult position.” Two women of color were front-runners — Sanchez and Lassiter — and both had support from national organizations, Sanchez said.

“I can fully understand that they didn’t get involved and back one over another,” Sanchez said.

…

Read the full article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, here.