With the November election on the horizon, former President Barack Obama is sticking his head into Texas politics, issuing a first round of endorsements to Democrat candidates in Texas.
The list, posted on Obama’s Twitter account Monday morning, lists eight U.S. congressional candidates and 19 candidates for the Texas House, with a mix of both incumbents and those seeking to claim seats currently held by Republicans.
The endorsements come during an election cycle in which Texas Democrats are ramping up efforts to take control of the Texas House ahead of redistricting in 2021.
Conspicuously missing from the list? MJ Hegar, who recently won the Democrat nomination to face U.S. Sen. John Cornyn.
Hegar, an Air Force veteran who unsuccessfully challenged Republican U.S. Rep. John Carter in 2018, narrowly defeated State Sen. Royce West (D–Dallas) in the Democrat primary runoff election last month. Despite this, however, Obama included endorsements of Democrat Senate candidates in other states in his release, including Colorado, Iowa, Maine, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
Though Obama billed the endorsement rollout as a “first wave,” leaving open the possibility of a future endorsement for Hegar, it could be viewed as part of a strategy to moderate the Democrat candidate in an effort to be more competitive among general election voters in November. During his presidential campaigns, Texans rejected Obama on the ballot twice, and both times by double-digit margins.
Barack Obama’s U.S. Congressional Endorsements
| District | Endorsee | GOP Opponent |
| 2 | Sima Ladjevardian | Dan Crenshaw (i) |
| 7 | Lizzie Fletcher (i) | Wes Hunt |
| 14 | Adrienne Bell | Randy Weber (i) |
| 21 | Wendy Davis | Chip Roy (i) |
| 22 | Sri Preston Kulkarni | Troy Nehls |
| 23 | Gina Ortiz Jones | Tony Gonzales* |
| 24 | Candace Valenzuela | Beth Van Duyne |
| 32 | Colin Allred | Genevieve Collins |
*Tony Gonzalez is currently facing a recount against Raul Reyes after the primary runoff election.
Barack Obama’s Texas House Endorsements
| District | Endorsee | GOP Opponent |
| 45 | Erin Zwiener | Carrie Isaac |
| 52 | James Talarico (i) | Lucio Valdez |
| 54 | Keke Williams | Brad Buckley (i) |
| 64 | Angela Brewer | Lynn Stucky (i) |
| 66 | Sharon Hirsch | Matt Shaheen (i) |
| 92 | Jeff Whitfield | Jeff Cason |
| 96 | Joe Drago | David Cook |
| 97 | Elizabeth Beck | Craig Goldman (i) |
| 104 | Jessica González (i) | n/a |
| 105 | Terry Meza (i) | Gerson Hernandez |
| 108 | Joanna Cattanach | Morgan Meyer (i) |
| 112 | Brandy Chambers | Angie Chen Button (i) |
| 113 | Rhetta Bowers (i) | Will Douglas |
| 121 | Celina Montoya | Steve Allison (i) |
| 126 | Natalie Hurtado | Sam Harless (i) |
| 132 | Gina Calanni (i) | Mike Schofield |
| 134 | Ann Johnson | Sarah Davis (i) |
| 135 | Jon Rosenthal (i) | Justin Ray |
| 138 | Akilah Bacy | Lacey Hull |
