It’s one thing for a significant share of the electorate to vote against a rising star like Democrat Beto O’Rourke. But what about one in four primary voters choosing an alternative to an incumbent like Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick?
By: Ross Ramsey
(Snippet of Texas Tribune article appears below)
Did you notice the welt Republican primary voters left on Dan Patrick?
Patrick easily won the GOP nomination for another term as lieutenant governor, but he was held to 76 percent of the vote, even though he spent more on reelection advertising than any of his fellow incumbents. In fact, he spent more than all of them put together.
But his problem on Tuesday wasn’t with the Democrats. It was with the heart of the Republican base in Texas: primary voters.
And while Patrick was touting the strength of the GOP’s red seawall against the Democrat’s blue wave, Milder was ringing another bell. He wrote on Facebook that he’ll be voting straight-ticket Republican in November, with one exception: Milder endorsed Collier, the Democrat, for the position he himself was seeking and urged his voters to follow his lead. “What we achieved is quite extraordinary, and this is just the beginning of our rational rebellion against the irrational, out-of-touch politics of our Lieutenant Governor and his posse,” he wrote.
That’s a lot to ask. And Milder, who spent less than $100,000 on his race, is unknown to most voters. Were they voting for him, or were they voting against the incumbent?
That’s the stuff of politicians’ nightmares.