1. Lone Star Slight 

No Texan participated in the first Republican debate. Former Texas Congressman Will Hurd says his expected debate spot was taken away, claiming the RNC cherry-picked polls, and he had the required polling and donor numbers to compete. Instead of speaking on stage, he live-Tweeted his takes, which weren’t much different from the in-person contenders.

2. National abortion ban promised

Despite the fact that abortion rights have won in every state election since the fall of Roe (summer 2022), Republican candidates including Mike Pence and Sen. Tim Scott, who cannot become pregnant, pledged to sign a national abortion ban.

3. Bidenomics is working

To start the debate, Republicans were invited to take turns misinforming Americans about the state of our economy. Ron DeSantis declined to tell the truth when he said “our country is in decline,” and a moderator even reminded participants that under the Trump-Pence administration, the national debt grew by record numbers. 

4. Yes, the Constitution is still a thing… for now

Former Vice President Mike Pence insisted that he deserved praise (read: not calls for hanging) on January 6. Pence asked all candidates to agree with him that he upheld the Constitution, and they did before quickly pivoting back to their preferred talking points.

5. Extreme agendas are a national threat

From assaults on our democracy, environment, and our personal freedoms, Republicans laid out their frightening new future for America. Immediately following the debate, Vice President Kamala Harris released a statement saying, “No one on stage ‘won’ tonight’s debate. Instead, the American people heard how much they stand to lose from an extremist agenda.”

President Biden is running for a second term and depending on where you live, there could be some or several contested down ballot primary races in the Democratic Primary.

The deadline to register to vote in the Texas primary election is February 5, 2024 and early voting begins on February 20, 2024. We must show up and vote to make our voices heard! 

Visit GoVoteTexas.org to register to vote or update your current registration.