As you may or may not know, yesterday was the cut-off, in Texas, for filing to run for office in the 2016 primaries. Taking a look at the lists of both parties there are some interesting races to pay attention to, for a change.
CD 7:
Incumbent: John Culberson (R)
Challengers (2)
John Lloyd (R) (His site is clearly either under construction or, oddly for a campaign site, is going to require registration to view)
Maria Espinoza (R) Who is running as the "Trump conservative" alternative in the race.
While Culberson is no longer my Representative (Ted Poe is, and he's going unchallenged until the general election) I've thought for a couple of years now that he would benefit from a strong primary challenge. In the New (Revised) Houston Political Dictionary I've defined "conservative" as a word without true meaning except inside the frame-work of a campaign. Culberson is the epitome of that. He campaigns tough but puts up zero effort when given the opportunity to make the hard votes. It should surprise you little that the first words you see on his website are "join the fight".
James Cargas (D) a self-described "Energy Corridor Attorney" is, in actuality, a government attorney running unopposed to be the sacrificial lamb in a district dominated by the energy industry and it's employees.
CD 18:
Incumbent: Sheila Jackson Lee (D)
Challengers (4)
Laurie Bartley (R) - Well, she has a picture of her self standing next to King Dan so there's that.
Ava Pate (R) - I have a feeling this one is not going to get much traction.
Sharon Joy Fisher (R) - At least her website is working.
Reggie Gonzales (R) - Half a website is better than none at all?
To be honest, all of the R's in this race are competing to lose badly to Ms. Jackson-Lee. As much of a comedy show as she's become, she's very popular in her district and Republicans struggle with minority districts. Until they provide the electorate with another reason to push the R button, Jackson-Lee will continue to win comfortably.
CD 29:
Incumbent: Gene Green (D)
Challengers (4)
Dominique Garcia (D) - No issues on the issues page. Not yet ready for prime time.
Adrian Garcia (D) - Still has his Mayoral site, and no Congressional site that I can find. Apparently he wasn't as prepped for this as some thought?
Julio Garza (R) - No campaign website found.
Robert Shafranek (R) - No Campaign website found.
The interesting match-up here is Green vs. Adrian Garcia. The two Republicans don't seem to be candidates in the general sense of the word. That said, with Garcia apparently kicking off his campaign, without switching over his website from the Mayoral Race methinks he's in for a rude awakening against a veteran like Green. Maybe he'll get his act together, but he's going to get hammered if he doesn't take this more seriously.
Interestingly enough, both the Harris County Democrats and Republicans are going to have contested elections for County Chair. The Democrats have a two-way race between incumbent Lane Lewis and Phillipe Nassif while the Republicans are again going to have a 3-way fight on their hands with incumbent Paul Simpson defending against Tex Christopher and Rick Ramos.
Overall there are very, very few incumbents facing even token primary resistance with most of those limited to the Texas House of Representatives.
The full lists for both parties, can be found below:
Republican
Democrats
Also, below are links to the sites of the two most influential minority parties who have not yet published any candidate listings that I can find:
Libertarian
Green Party
And that's the thing about political machine. It has to be constantly fed.
