Texas Primary: Ortiz Jones, Kulkarni pass their initial challenges

Sri Preston Kulkarni, left, and Gina Ortiz Jones seek to make Texas history in November.

Both AAPI candidates who want make history by representing Texas in Congress passed their first test with flying colors on Super Tuesday.

Democrats Sri Preston Kulkarni and Gina Ortiz Jones easily bested their Democratic rivals to face Republican challengers in November.

Ortiz Jones, who would become the first Filipino American and first gay representative for Texas if she wins in the contest for Congressional District 23, garnered two-thirds of the votes cast Tuesday (March 3).

"I’m honored to be the Democratic nominee in #TX23. I’ve dedicated my life to public service, and I’m running for Congress to expand the opportunities that allowed me to grow up healthy, get a quality education, and serve our country," Ortiz Jones tweeted Tuesday night.

"Folks in South and West Texas are ready to send a leader to Washington who will fight for quality, lower cost health care, responsible and compassionate immigration reform, and an economy that works for everyone," she said.

“We look forward to making sure that this district is finally well-represented,” said Jones, 39, a San Antonio native and former U.S. Air Force intelligence officer.

The incumbent, Republican Will Hurd, is not running for reelection after eking out a win over Ortiz Jones in 2018.

The two Republicans seeking to take his place, Tony Gonzales and Raul Gonzales, failed to win more than 50% of the total. As the two top vote-getters in a field of nine Republicans, they will have a runoff May 26,

Kulkarni, who also almost upset incumbent Republican Pete Olsen, in 2018, seeks to become the first Indian American congressmember from Texas. Olsen, like Hurd, chose not run again for Congress opening the door for a wide-open contest in November.

Kulkarni easily beat his  opponents to become the Democratic flag bearer in Congressional District 22.

As the victorious trend became evident Tuesday night, Kulkarni said: “I’m cautiously optimistic that we are going to be successful, but I really am proud, ecstatic about the fact that inclusion won today because we are running the most inclusive campaign across the country.

“We had 21 languages, reaching out to women who were registered but never voted in their lives, we reached out to all groups that have been ignored before, today was a victory for inclusion, last year we came in first place, but this year we had an even bigger margin because we were even more inclusive.”

As in CD 23, the two Republican frontrunners, Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls and conservative activist Kathaleen Wall are headed for a May 26 runoff to be the GOP candidate to run against Kulkarni in a contest that is rated to be a toss-up.

The AAPI Victory Fund, a political action committee, endorsed both Ortiz Jones and Kulkarni in their Primary runs.

Both of the Texas races are expected to be hotly contested in November. The Republican and Democratic national parties see the races for CD22 and CD23 critical to power their  influence in the House and will be pouring money into the campaigns. 

Texas lawmaker abandons race for reelection after saying His opponents were running because they’re ‘Asian’

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Texas lawmaker Rick Miller won't be running for reelection.

ASAM NEWS

Texas State Representative Rick Miller ended his race for re-election on Tuesday after he received criticism for saying his opponents were running because they’re “Asian,” The Washington Post reports.

Miller, 74, made the comment during an interview with the Houston Chronicle. On Tuesday, he gave a statement to The Texas Tribune apologizing for his comments.

“During a recent interview with the Houston Chronicle I made some statements that were insensitive and inexcusable,” Miller said in a statement to The Texas Tribune. “In trying to make a point about the campaign I used a poor choice of words that are not indicative of my character or heart.”

He added that he would not be seeking re-election.

“I do not want to be a distraction for my party or my constituents, and therefore I have decided not to seek re-election,” he continued.

Miller, a Republican lawmaker, was running for re-election in District 26. The population of Fort Bend County is split almost evenly, with 35 per cent Anglo residents, 24 per cent Hispanic, 21 per cent Asian or other, and 20 per cent black, according to a 2018 survey by the Kinder Institute for Urban Research.

Leonard N. Chan, a 35-year-old public-sector policy researcher, and Jacey Jetton, a 36-year-old businessman and former chair of the Fort Bend GOP were challenging Miller for the Republican nomination. Miller told The Houston Chronicle he felt Jetton was running because he thought the GOP would need an Asian to win District 26.

Chan is "a Korean. He has decided because, because he is an Asian that my district might need an Asian to win. And that’s kind of racist in my mind, but anyway, that’s not necessary, at least not yet,” Miller said.

Miller said he believed Chan was running for the same reasons.

“I don’t know, I never met the guy. I have no idea who he is. He has not been around Republican channels at all, but he’s an Asian,” Miller said.

Miller’s comments faced harsh criticism. Texas Governor Greg Abbott withdrew his endorsement of Miller before Miller announced he was dropping out of the race.

Asian American Republican candidates for Texas legislature: Jacey Jetton, left, and Leonard Chan.

According to The Texas Tribune, both Chan and Jetton expressed their disappointment with his comments.

“I’ve stood by why I’m running and I’ve never run as an Asian or a Korean or anything other than another conservative Texan wanting to do good for the state,” said Jetton, whose mother is from Korea. “I don’t know where he decided to come up with these comments, but it’s unfortunate.”

Chan told The Texas Tribune that he was “caught off guard” by Miller’s comments.

“It’s about qualifications, merit and ideas,” Chan said. “You shouldn’t treat each demographic group as a group to try and capture at the ballot box.”

Chan told The Texas Tribune that Miller called him personally to apologize. He said he believed Miller’s apology to be sincere.

Miller’s comments could hurt the Texas GOP. Democrats have been targeting Miller’s seats since 2018. Miller won the district by 5 points, but the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Beto O’Rourke, won it by 2 points. In light of Miller’s comments, the Texas Democratic Party criticized the Texas GOP.

“Texas Republicans again are showing off their true colors,” said Abhi Rahman, a spokesman for the Texas Democratic Party. “From Dennis Bonnen to Rick Miller to the dirty tricks seen in the leaked Texas GOP playbook, voters are getting a firsthand look at what Texas Republicans look like behind closed doors and out in the open.”

According to The Washington Post, Chan isn’t worried about the impact Miller’s comments will have on the GOP’s performance at the polls. He said that voters will be paying attention to local issues and not race.

“I don’t see it being an issue — unless you’re intentionally trying to alienate that population,” he said. “If you connect with people, race doesn’t matter.”

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Will Asian American voters turn deep-red Texas to purple?

At a recent meeting of Texas' Tarrant County Democratic Party group representing Asian Americans, the packed room in a Vietnamese restaurant broke into whoops and hollers, a hallmark of Texas celebrations.
“This is the fastest-growing community in Tarrant County,” said Aftab Siddiqui, its co-chair, to whoops from the audience packed into the small Vietnamese restaurant. “And also the state.”

But aided by both rapid demographic shifts and a backlash to Donald Trump's racist and anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies, the suburbs around Forth Worth and other Texas cities are growing more racially diverse and the newcomers -- particularly Asian Americans -- tend to vote for Democrats. 

In 2018, Democrats flipped two congressional seats in Texas. Now, they're eyeing at least six more GOP-held districts that may be vulnerable, including the 22nd District, which is anchored in Fort Bend County, along with parts of Harris and Brazoria counties.

The Asian American Pacific Islanders Committee was established a month ago, the latest sign of how Democrats believe a changing population might help them end the Republicans’ 30-year hold on Texas. The state’s Hispanic population is expected to surpass the number of white residents in 2022.

At the same time, an influx of Asian Americans is providing organizers like Siddiqui, who arrived from Pakistan in the 1990s, with hope that an influx of new voters can make a decisive difference. According to 2016 presidential election exit polling, 72% of Asian Americans in Texas voted for Hillary Clinton, compared to 26% who backed Donald Trump.

The Asian population is the fastest-growing group in the state, according to the US Census Bureau, which estimates that it grew 42% between 2010 and 2017.

At about 1.2 million people, it is still a small minority among a total population of a little more than 28 million, but Siddiqui said many were newly energized.

Sri Kulkarni, left, and Gina Ortiz Jones are running for Congress in Texas.

This is good news for Asian American candidates Gina Ortiz Jones running to represent the sprawling 23rd Congressional District and Sri Kulkarni in the 22nd District in the suburbs of Houston.

Ortiz Jones, a Filipina American, hopes to win the seat that has been left open since incumbent Will Hurd, a moderate Republican, announced he would not seek reelection. Some say Hurd saw the writing on the wall as he was put in jeopardy by Trump's harsh immigration policies that he mostly opposed.

"We have already scared out Will Hurd," says Ortiz Jones, who lost to Hurd by a meager 1000 votes.

Instead of writing off Asian American voters because they either don't vote or vote Republican, Kulkarni has staked his entire campaign on the voting bloc, believing the growing number of minority voters in Texas' 22nd Congressional District are ready to oust Republican Rep. Pete Olson. The Indian American narrowly lost to Olson in the 2018 mid-terms. He hopes that Democrats will come out in droves in 2020 because of the high interest in the Presidential race.

"We don't have representation," Kulkarni says of Asian Americans in Houston. "You look at the population or look around at the area and you see our diversity. But then you see our leaders here. ... For a district that is 60% minority to never have had any minority representing them, there is something off there."

There are over 82,000 registered Asian voters in District 22, Kulkarni told the Daily Texan. If they all show up to vote, it could be the first election ever decided by the Asian vote in this district.

“Whatever happens … I’m going to be very proud of the effort we made,” Kulkarni said. “But clearly, if we’re successful, it’s going to have a dramatic effect with ripples throughout the country.”

Activist groups say that because of “voter suppression tactics used by the state and other entities,” the diversity of Texas is not reflected in state legislature and minority communities’ interests are not reflected in state policy.

“Our state legislators are generally a lot whiter and a lot wealthier than Texans,” said Hani Mirza, senior attorney at the Texas Civil Rights Project, a nonprofit organization based in Austin.

Voting rights groups have long accused Texas of extreme gerrymandering and restrictive voter registration rules, that in effect have rigged the state’s election rules in ways that disempower black and brown voters.

“The tactics used in gerrymandering can dilute minority votes to where they can't have their voice heard in elections,” said Mirza. He added that when drawing electoral lines, state legislature has broken up minority communities to dilute their votes, or packed minority groups into as few districts as possible to suppress their voice.

Texas is due for a federal census in 2020 and redistricting process in 2021 where electoral maps may be redrawn.

“Because of the rhetoric that has been going against communities of color, this has become a lot more understood that, we have to step forward and fight for our rights in this current atmosphere,” Siddiqui said, explaining a surge of interest that prompted the new group to serve people in and around Fort Worth.

That has put the state on the cusp of change. With the second most votes in the Electoral College -- California is tops -- Republicans need to retain Texas in their corner to counter the expected Democratic victory in California.

“Texas is at a watershed moment but in politics it is all about turning out the vote,”Siddiqui said. “If we can do that, we can turn it blue, but it might still go back and forth.”

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