Time for the week that was in Texas politics with Emily Ramshaw, editor-in-chief of the Texas Tribune.
Democrats and political junkies are scratching their heads over the special election in Senate District 19. Pete Gallego, the Democrat, and Pete Flores, the Republican, battled for the seat vacated by Carlos Uresti. In an upset, Flores won.
District 19 has been a reliably Democratic seat and was a huge loss to the Democrats, who are hoping to make electoral gains this year.
“I don’t know if it’s a harbinger of what’s to come,” Ramshaw says. “However, it’s a reminder that even when it counts Democrats have a really hard time turning folks out. I’d say that doesn’t bode will for the party.”
The first of three debates between Texas Senator Ted Cruz and his Democratic challenger, Congressman Beto O’Rourke, will be Friday night, after a week of mixed poll results.
One poll of likely voters showed Cruz up by about nine percentage points while another showed O’Rourke up by two points. Most pollsters agree the race is too close to call, but it’s safe to assume this is a single digit contest.
The Texas Tribune Festival will kick off Sept. 27 in the shadow of the Capitol in downtown Austin. Speakers featured at the festival include John Kerry, Nancy Pelosi and Beto O’Rourke.
Listen to the full interview in the audio player above.
Written by Brooke Vincent.
