Before any candidate can claim Texas’ 38 Electoral College votes on Nov. 3, the Republican and Democratic parties will conduct their primaries on March 3. Roughly one-third of all delegates to the presidential nominating conventions can be won on “Super Tuesday”, more than any other day during election season.
The results of the Democratic presidential primary on Super Tuesday will be a solid indicator of who will likely earn the party’s nomination. Fourteen state primaries and the American Samoa caucuses will take place on this day, totaling nearly 34 percent of all delegates nationwide, according to Ballotpedia.
Presidential Primaries
Despite several other names appearing on the ballot, the Republican nomination is still solidly in the possession of incumbent President Donald Trump. Bill Weld, a Libertarian-Republican and former running mate of Gary Johnson in the 2016 election, became the first Republican to win a delegate against an incumbent president since Pat Buchanan in the 1992 election.
The Democrat candidates currently are Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren and Michael Bloomberg—with Sanders and Biden respectively leading in total delegates pledged heading into Super Tuesday.
Sanders has accrued 60 pledged delegates to Biden’s 54, according to Ballotpedia. Pete Buttigieg, former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, announced he was suspending his presidential campaign despite accumulating 26 pledged delegates—more than Warren and Bloomberg combined.
Sanders—whose campaign has focused on issues such as the expansion of the estate tax, a $15 per hour minimum wage, Medicare for All and tuition-free college—won the popular vote in Iowa along with the most delegates in both New Hampshire and Nevada.
“Our campaign is about transforming our country and creating a government based on the principles of economic, social, racial and environmental justice.” Bernie Sanders, Democrat presidential candidate.
In contrast, Biden favors using the Affordable Care Act as a foundation to expand insurance coverage, according to his campaign website. Additionally, Biden’s plans include reducing the number of incarcerated individuals by decriminalizing drug use.
Sanders’ and Biden’s campaigns share common ground in some areas, however. Both support a minimum wage increase to $15 per hour, combining trade policy with climate policy objectives, prohibiting high-capacity ammunition magazines and development strategies aimed at the middle class.
Elsewhere, the two candidates differ radically. Sanders has long been a vocal critic of campaign finance laws in U.S. elections, for example, and has called for the Supreme Court overturn its landmark ruling in Citizens United v. FEC.
Biden’s stance on immigration includes securing the border and enforcing existing immigration laws while addressing the root causes of migration, according to his campaign website. Biden’s plan stops short of guaranteeing a path to citizenship or expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA program.
“We’re in a battle for the soul of America. It’s time to remember who we are. We’re Americans: tough, resilient, but always full of hope. It’s time to treat each other with dignity. Build a middle class that works for everybody. Fight back against the incredible abuses of power we’re seeing. It’s time to dig deep and remember that our best days still lie ahead.” Joe Biden, Democrat presidential candidate.
Sanders’ plan, on the other hand, would provide legal status to DACA-eligible immigrants while also reinstating the policy, institute a moratorium on deportations and fundamentally restructure the system for immigration enforcement.
Senate Primaries
Texan voters will also cast their ballots for U.S. Senate candidates on Super Tuesday. Incumbent John Cornyn is seeking a larger margin of victory than Ted Cruz had in 2018.
Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke was defeated narrowly by Cruz with a margin of 50.9 to 48.3 percent; or roughly 215,000 votes, according to Ballotpedia. O’Rourke’s Senate campaign raised $80 million, the highest amount ever by a Senate candidate, and surpassed Hillary Clinton’s vote total from the 2016 presidential election.
An electoral map depicting the election results of the 2018 U.S. Senate election in Texas, by county. Image obtained from Ballotpedia.
John Castro and Mark Yancey are both Republican candidates for Senate opposing Cornyn on the ballot, according to Ballotpedia. Both candidates come from business backgrounds and neither has prior political office experience.
In the Democrat primary for Senate, the race is currently led by Mary Jennings Hegar, according to early polling results. Royce West, Texas State Senate member, and Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez, co-founder of the Workers Defense Project and the Latinx advocacy group Jolt, contest Hegar closely in the polls.
West has set his campaign apart by highlighting his past legislative experience, having served in the state Senate since 1992. Ramirez, a political outsider, has emphasized her community outreach work during her campaign.
In 2018, Hegar lost in the U.S. House general election for Texas’ 31st Congressional District to incumbent John Carter. Hegar’s loss was by a narrow margin, however, having earned roughly 48 percent of the vote compared to Carter’s 51 percent.
House District 19 Primaries
Republican incumbent Jodey Arrington is up for re-election once again, having previously defeated Democratic challenger Miguel Levario in 2018. Arrington, who represents a district that contains both Abilene and Lubbock, is one of many campaigning Republicans to receive the endorsement of President Trump.
“I’m working to put reforms in place like a balanced budget amendment and other things so that we can rein the spending.” Jodey Arrington, U.S. House District 19 Representative.
U.S. House District 19, currently represented by Jodey Arrington. Image obtained from Mapbox.
Arrington’s main primary challenge comes from Vance Boyd, a general contractor, former professional bull rider and stuntman for the television series “Walker, Texas Ranger”, according to KTXS 12. Boyd, a former mayor of Anson, Texas, has based his campaign platform on expanding the economic prosperity of the region to rural hospitals, he said.
Much of Arrington’s campaign platform hinges on his legislative accomplishments since becoming a House member. Arrington was the primary sponsor of H.R. 3562, a resolution that authorized the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide financial assistance for adaptations to the homes of veterans in rehabilitation programs. Arrington also frequently co-sponsors bills focused on national security, health and social welfare.
Arrington’s other opposition comes from Democrat Tom Watson, an attorney from Abilene, according to the Abilene Reporter News. In his campaign, Watson has emphasized the suffering caused by President Trump’s trade war with China and called for an increase in renewable energy solutions in the region.
“Above all, public servants need to serve all members of their community, not a select few.” — Tom Watson, Democratic candidate for U.S. House District 19.
Watson—in Ballotpedia’s 2020 Candidate Connection survey—said that he is running to serve all the House district’s citizens, not just the ones who support his campaign. Watson has criticized Arrington for his unquestioned support of President Trump.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Polling stations will be open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. on Super Tuesday.
About Reece Nations, Managing Editor
