If you are an MSNBC viewer or believe that the New York Times is more than a local newspaper, you may not have heard about the election of Texas Republican Mayra Flores to Congress. She will be representing the folks in one of those congressional districts along the US/Mexican border.
As one might expect, the left-leaning news media gave the story minimal coverage – and no in-depth analysis as to the significance of Flores’ victory. And there was a lot of significance.
First of all, Flores won the district with 51.6 percent of the vote against two Democrats and a Republican in a free-for-all open special election in an overwhelmingly Democrat District (80 %) – and the second most Hispanic district in the nation. Since she is filling the seat vacated by Democrat Congressman Filemon Vela, Flores will be running again in the November midterm election for a full two-year term starting in January 2023. Vela resigned from Congress to take a lobbying position in Washington.
Flores is the first Mexican-born woman to serve in Congress. She flipped a seat that had been held by a Democrat for generations.
While Flores will face a tough challenge to retain the seat, her impressive victory is a clear warning to Democrats. It is additional evidence that they are losing a significant percentage of the Hispanic vote.
I am not surprised. As a person with an extended Mexican family – and a lot of civic involvement in and with the Hispanic community in Chicago — I have occasionally opined that Democrats were seriously mistaken in believing that Hispanic Americans were eager to have the millions of illegal border crossers flooding their communities – especially the criminal elements. And if Democrats were counting on the new arrivals eventually becoming Democrat voters, they may be in for a big surprise.
It will be interesting to see how all this plays out in November.
Race #2 – Glenn Ivey, Democrat
Donna Edwards – representing the more radical left-wing of the Democratic Party was expected to be the winner in the primary for a very safe congressional seat in Maryland on the Washington border. She was endorsed by most of the Democrat establishment – including Speaker Pelosi.
Edwards was hoping to regain her seat in Congress after ceding it in a failed run for the United States Senate in 2016.
The loss in the primary can be viewed as a general rejection of Edwards’ staunch progressive positions. She was a critic of policing. But one issue stood out. As with many on the far left of the Democratic Party, Edwards was a critic of Israel – more in line with the views of such members of Congress as Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She all but endorsed the Ban, Divest and Sanction Israel Movement.
As in the case of Flores, Ivey won a decided victory the Democrat primary with a 51 to 35 percent margin.
Summary
If there is anything to be learned from these races, it may be that the hardcore left – that has been enjoying an ascendency in the Democratic Party in recent years — is losing favor. These two races may be canaries in the coal mine – a warning to the Democrat establishment that hardcore left policies are wearing thin with the voters. The political pendulum appears to be swinging to the right.
So, there ‘tis.
