Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Republicans' race to the bottom in new Texas swing district
This race has been amusing https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/14/texas-kathaleen-wall-troy-nehls-361255?fbclid=IwAR0CAMbB5_-wJG_FBQd0RSVPhAyY4FxTkZvV-LCV5F1QsQmuiiRd9LMjhCQ
After emerging from a 15-candidate March primary, Republican megadonor Kathaleen Wall and Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls found themselves locked in a nasty, race-to-the-right runoff that's left them bear-hugging the president in a suburban district that is trending to the center as Trump is losing ground.
The final weeks have brought Republicans even more headaches. Wall went nuclear, tapping her personal wealth to run millions of dollars’ worth of TV ads featuring a sex-trafficking victim and her family excoriating Nehls for failing to protect them. Nehls bested Wall by 21 points in the primary, but even Nehls' allies worry her attack ads have bloodied the GOP frontrunner.
"Kathaleen Wall couldn’t be doing more for the Democrat Party than she is now," said Mike Gibson, a former Fort Bend County GOP chair who is backing Nehls. "Because she’s going to lose. Troy is going to win, and now they’re going to have all this stuff that they can also bring up."
The district, a longtime GOP bastion which former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay drew for himself, has quickly transformed into fiercely competitive territory, the result of an explosion of immigrant communities and the growing suburban rejection of Trump. Incumbent GOP Rep. Pete Olson, who won a much closer-than-expected race in 2018, is retiring rather than run again.
The final weeks have brought Republicans even more headaches. Wall went nuclear, tapping her personal wealth to run millions of dollars’ worth of TV ads featuring a sex-trafficking victim and her family excoriating Nehls for failing to protect them. Nehls bested Wall by 21 points in the primary, but even Nehls' allies worry her attack ads have bloodied the GOP frontrunner.
"Kathaleen Wall couldn’t be doing more for the Democrat Party than she is now," said Mike Gibson, a former Fort Bend County GOP chair who is backing Nehls. "Because she’s going to lose. Troy is going to win, and now they’re going to have all this stuff that they can also bring up."
The district, a longtime GOP bastion which former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay drew for himself, has quickly transformed into fiercely competitive territory, the result of an explosion of immigrant communities and the growing suburban rejection of Trump. Incumbent GOP Rep. Pete Olson, who won a much closer-than-expected race in 2018, is retiring rather than run again.
