Now that the primary election is in the books, the real work begins. Labor and other progressives know that followers of Donald Trump, if they get in power, will overturn any future elections that they lose.
What Can We Learn from the Runoff?
Commercial news sources focused almost completely on the Republican nomination for Attorney General. Republican voters turned out mightily and re-nominated incumbent Paxton in spite of his indictment for securities fraud, the investigation for corruption, denouncement from Texas' senior senator, and disbarment proceedings from the American Bar Association.
Results for the Dallas AFL-CIO are posted on our web site: https://www.texasaflcio.org/dallas/labors-election-work/dallas-labors-results-2022-primary-runoff-election. The major focus of our canvassers was in Texas District 100, where our candidate Venton Jones won in a landslide.
All of our candidates did well in Dallas county, but two of them did not do well enough to overcome their losses in other counties. However, there are November upsides for progressives.
The Democratic nominee for Attorney General is Rochelle Garza, who makes certain that the top of the Democrat ticket for November will show much-needed diversity. The Democratic nominee in Congressional District 24 is Jan McDowell, a long-time member and activist with labor's retiree organization. Both Garza and McDowell will be running against major national symbols of Republican reaction.
Turnout figures, while not numerically impressive, indicate that the nationally notorious Texas attempt at voter suppression is not working. Vote-by-mail, a major target of the suppressors, continues to grow with a pronounced trend toward progressive candidates. Vote-by-mail has been a major priority for the Texas Alliance for Retired Americans since 2019.
We know what we have to do to win in November, and it doesn't include holding anything back.
Starbucks Organizing in Dallas
Dallas AFL-CIO delegate from Alliance/AFT, Rosie Curts, passed along the word that workers at Starbucks at Mockingbird Station are joining the long list of organizing efforts across the nation. Let's see how we can help!
More Actions Coming Up
Jun 5, 2PM: Gay pride “Freedom March” steps off from the Colliseum in Fair Park
Jun 18: Poor People’s March in Washington DC
Jul 14-16: Texas Democratic Party convention at Dallas Convention Center. Join the labor & retiree caucus.
Jul 22-24: Young Active Labor Leaders statewide meeting. https://www.facebook.com/YALLDFW
Sep 9-10: Women's Summit
Oct 28: Deadline to receive vote-by-mail applications for general election
Nov 8: General election