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Texas Democrats lash out at national counterparts for insufficient support in South Texas battleground
Editor’s note: This story contains explicit language.
Some prominent Texas Democrats are up in arms at what they see as a withdrawal of serious national investment in a South Texas congressional district that is the linchpin of Republicans’ drive to take over the region.
With less than a month to go, neither the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee nor the House Majority PAC, the top Democratic super PAC in House races, has gone on the air in the 15th Congressional District, where Michelle Vallejo is the Democratic nominee. And on Sunday, Axios reported that House Majority PAC is “planning to cancel the scheduled ad reservations for her at the end of the month, according to a source familiar with the group’s plans.”
That was the breaking point.
“I’m really, deeply disappointed in the DCCC,” Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa said in an interview the next day. “I hope they change their mind, and if we lose this election, it’s completely on them.”
The state party followed up with a memo saying how it was “doubling down” on South Texas, including by sending “staff across departments to the Rio Grande Valley to assist campaigns on the ground with organizing digital, communications, fundraising, and other efforts.”
House Majority PAC declined to comment on the in-state criticism, and the DCCC disputed the suggestion that it was not contesting the 15th District. The committee opened an office there this spring, has multiple staffers on the ground, and has run digital and radio ads.
“The DCCC has invested considerable resources to win all three South Texas races, and our commitment has not changed,” DCCC spokesperson Helen Kalla said in a statement. “We’re excited that our partners will be joining us for...