Dem targeted by party establishment loses Texas primary

Democratic House candidate Lizzie Pannill Fletcher is projected to win the Texas primary runoff, giving national Democrats their preferred candidate in the race to unseat Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas).

The Associated Press called the race for her around 11:15 p.m.

Fletcher, an attorney who was backed by EMILY’s List, defeated activist and journalist Laura Moser on Tuesday for the Democratic nomination. Fletcher will now face Culberson, whose reliably red district was carried by Hillary Clinton in 2016 by a little over 1 point.

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Fletcher’s victory is also a win for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), which made the unusual move of targeting Moser ahead of the March primary with opposition research. 

“Lizzie won her competitive primary by talking straight to voters in Houston about the issues that actually matter to their economic security, health and children’s future,” DCCC chairman Ben Ray Luján (N.M.) said in a statement following the results.

“Lizzie is in a very strong position for the general election, and her inclusive message will strike a powerful contrast with her Republican opponent’s record of undermining investment in critical infrastructure and disaster preparedness, and raising the cost of health care for thousands of families across Texas.”

The research dump highlighted concerns about Moser’s residency and claims that her husband’s company unfairly benefited from her campaign. It included a 2014 story from Washingtonian magazine where she wrote she’d rather “have my teeth pulled out without anesthesia” than live in Paris, Texas — a town hundreds of miles from the district.

The attack enraged progressive groups, who argued that the DCCC was looking to block a more progressive candidate from making it through the primary. But the campaign committee defended its decision, arguing that Moser’s criticism disqualified her as a general election candidate.

In the seven-candidate primary, Fletcher came in first, but she failed to clinch more than 50 percent of the vote, triggering a May runoff with Moser, who was the second-place finisher.

But since the March primary, the frenzy over the DCCC’s action has died down and the 11-week sprint between the primary and runoff has been rather quiet compared to the final weeks before the primary. And the DCCC has stayed out of the race since the research dump.

While there’s little daylight between the two candidates on policy issues, Moser and Fletcher sought to differentiate themselves on their experiences — and even residency.

Fletcher, a longtime volunteer for Planned Parenthood, touted her long history of living in the area. It’s a knock at Moser, who moved back to the district last year.

Moser has pushed back on Fletcher’s criticism over residency. And she’s campaigned on being able to energize the progressive base of the party and getting voters who may have previously sat on the sidelines.

But as it appeared that Moser would be defeated Tuesday night, she called on her supporters to back Fletcher, with the ultimate objective of winning the seat in November.

“The key objective here is to beat John Culberson,” Moser said at her election night party, according to BuzzFeed. “If this night turns out like it looks like it’s going to turn out, I encourage everyone to support [Lizzie Fletcher].”

The race is also a big win for EMILY’s List, which got behind Fletcher early. The group has played heavily in Democratic primaries this cycle as it seeks to boost the ranks of women in Congress. EMILY’s List has so far been successful in shepherding more female candidates through to the general election.

The next challenge will be for Fletcher to put this red seat into play. It’s one of the few opportunities for Democrats to gain a seat in Texas. But Culberson has represented the Houston-area district since 2001.

On Tuesday night, Republicans previewed how they plan to campaign against Fletcher, seeking to link her to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) agenda.

“CLF looks forward to seeing Lizzie Pannill Fletcher, the DCCC’s preferred candidate, campaign on reversing a $2,791 tax cut for hardworking middle-class families in Texas’ 7th district,” said Michael Byerly, a spokesman for Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with House GOP leadership. “CLF will be doing our part in ensuring voters know how Pannill Fletcher would put Nancy Pelosi and her liberal agenda over Texans.”

Prior to the runoff, both the Congressional Leadership Fund and Democratic outside groups had already signaled that Texas’s 7th District is a top priority for both parties.

The Congressional Leadership Fund has reserved $2.45 million on TV and digital ads for the fall in addition to setting up a field office in the district. Meanwhile, the House Majority PAC, a super PAC with ties to Democratic leadership, purchased $1.98 million in ads in the Houston media market.