On Tuesday, primaries and run-offs were held in Virginia, Alabama, Georgia, and Texas, and political pundits across the nation are looking at the results in anticipation of a red wave in the November midterm elections.
Some of the candidates are also noteworthy for
A recount of run-off votes in Texas saw the razor-thin defeat of a progressive challenger to a seat held by Democrat Henry Cuellar. Cuellar’s opponent, Jessica Cisneros, was endorsed by progressives such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other members of the DC “Squad.” Cisneros conceded after 99 percent of the vote was counted. Cuellar got just over 50 percent of the vote. Cuellar is described as the last pro-life Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives. His home was raided by FBI in early 2022.
In Virginia, the daughter of immigrants from El Salvador successfully won a primary run-off. Yesli Vega is a Republican candidate who will face off against incumbent Democrat Abigail Spanberger. Vega has an impressive resume’ – she is a former police officer and supervisor in the Coles District of Prince William County in Virginia. Vega squared off against two other Republican candidates Tuesday, and she was able to garner 29 percent of the run-off vote while her competition garnered about 23 percent and 21 percent.
Vega was endorsed by Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), who appeared at more than one campaign rally for Vega.
Vega’s election isn’t the only one that suggests there is a trend toward more Conservative values. Jen Kiggans, a former Navy pilot and current nurse practitioner, won a Republican primary in Virginia’s Second Congressional District. Currently a State legislator, Kiggans will face incumbent Democrat Representative Elaine Luria in November’s general election.
Both Virginia candidates are running on a platform that eschews soft-on-crime policies and emphasizes American strength.
Many are saying that wins for Vega and Mayra Flores, who was elected last week in a special vote to replace a retiring Congressman in a traditionally blue district in southwestern Texas, are bellwethers for the coming general election.
Vega said on Wednesday, “The number one priority of folks is to live in safe and secure communities, to know that their children are going to be safe playing outside. And unfortunately, you have a Democrat Party that has opened up the doors for crime skyrocketing in our communities like we’ve never seen before.”
Kiggans echoed the sentiment, saying that the American economy is an important focus for her campaign.
In Alabama, Katie Britt won the run-off against current Alabama Representative Mo Brooks. Now Britt, who was retiring Richard Shelby’s chief of staff at one time, will face Democratic nominee Will Boyd.
If Britt is elected, she’ll be the first ever female elected to represent the state of Alabama in the United States Senate. Britt said that the state of Alabama is “looking for new blood” in Congress. Britt is expected to easily win the seat; the state of Alabama is largely Republican, and has only elected one Democrat to a Congressional seat in the last three decades.
With Yesli Vega winning her primary on Tuesday, Vega is just the fourth Latina to win a GOP primary this election season. She joins Mayra Flores (R-TX), Cassy Garcia (R-TX), and Monica De La Cruz (R-TX). Even news outlets such as CNN and Yahoo have opined about a loss of Democrat support among Hispanics. They’ve also offered the elections of these Hispanic women in Republican primaries as a dire warning of the midterms.
Hispanic voters have been leaving the Democratic Party in great numbers since 2016; many swapped parties and voted for Trump in both 2016 and 2020. A former gang member turned activist and evangelist Jesse Holguin founded LEXIT, or Latino Exit from the Democratic Party. Some political experts posit that the changes are due to religious beliefs in the Hispanic community, while others point to everyday issues such as high fuel and grocery prices and inflation as a driving factor in whether Hispanics vote red.
Regardless of motivation, political pundits are predicting a red wave in November.
