157
Number of counties in which David Alameel, the 2014 Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, failed to receive at least 20% of the vote.
U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-El Paso), the Democratic nominee challenging U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R), recently completed a rare quest. He became the third statewide candidate in recent memory to hold at least one campaign event in each of the state’s 254 counties, joining 2014 Libertarian GOV nominee Kathie Glass and 1990 Democratic AG candidate John Odam.
The last Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate received less than 20% of the vote in 62% of the counties O’Rourke has spent time visiting. Of course, Alameel didn’t visit most of those counties, but neither did other recent Democratic nominees, who failed to clear 20% in far fewer counties than Alameel:
69 – Paul Sadler (2012)
50 – Gene Kelly (2000)
42 – Barbara Ann Radnofsky (2006)
41 – Rick Noriega (2008)
37 – Sen. Bob Krueger (1993 special runoff)
17 – Richard Fisher (1994)
7 – Ron Kirk (2002)
4 – Victor Morales (1996)
In fact, Alameel did not reach 20% in nearly the same number of counties (157) as the four previous nominees combined (159).
In November, we will know if O’Rourke’s strategy pays off in these red counties. At least one bit of historical data suggests it will not. Despite visiting all 254 counties, Glass received nearly 43K fewer votes in 2014 than she did in 2010. She received more votes in 2014 than in 2010 in just 17 counties, most of which have Hispanic/Latino-majority populations.
Also in the race are Libertarian nominee Neal Dikeman, up to six independent candidates and an unknown number of write-in candidates.
©2018 Texas Election Source LLC
