Why it’s important: The back-and-forth constitutes one of the first battles of the 2028 Democratic primary, amid the party’s desperation to reverse recent GOP gains among Latino voters.
- Latino leaders are trying to show off their political strength, fueled in part by the new Democratic primary schedule, which puts Nevada and New Mexico — and their large Latino populations — the second and fourth states to vote in the nomination race.
Driving the news: In recent weeks, Latino leaders have gone public with their pressure campaign to push Beshear to invest $10 million in Texas, even as polls have shown Hinojosa leading or within the polling margin of error.
- Beshear, aware of the high cost of a statewide campaign in Texas and the limited resources of the DGA, resisted and instead focused the committee’s resources on gubernatorial races in critical states like Nevada, Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Ohio.
Pritzker, a potential rival for 2028 to Beshear who had already donated $200,000 to Hinojosa’s campaign and then publicly announced he would give Hinojosa another $1 million. That earned the Illinois governor, a billionaire who has strategically spread some of his personal wealth across the party, some fans.
- “When Latino leaders asked for the cavalry, JB Pritzker sent it, putting $1.2 million behind Gina Hinojosa because he knows the race is winnable,” Cristóbal Alex, Latino Victory Fund board chair, told Axios.
- Alex noted that Pritzker, who hosted a fundraiser for the Latino Victory Fund, has “dedicated his resources and time to Hispanic candidates and voters across the country.”
Newsom, meanwhile, sent a fundraising email this earned Hinojosa $75,000.
- Moore privately asked the DGA to reallocate $100,000 from his Texas re-election campaign, two Democratic officials told Axios.
- Beshear, who personally gave $25,000 to Hinojosa’s campaign, ultimately announced that the DGA would give his team $1 million, 10 percent of the original request and a small commitment for a large state like Texas. The money arrived last week, according to a source close to the matter.
The plot: Several Latino leaders and lawmakers were furious that Beshear did not attend a Zoom call with them and the DGA on Oct. 7 to discuss the Texas race.
- “It boggles my mind that someone who was even thinking about 2028 would disrespect us and not meet,” Rep. Silvia Garcia (D-Texas) told Axios, noting that seven Latino members of Congress were on the call. “Just five minutes on a Zoom…and excuse yourself.”
- “I really felt like he had disrespected the group and that he was going to have a serious Latino problem if he didn’t know how to do the outreach and communications necessary to get us to the White House.”
- Critics of Beshear note that he had time this fall to go on a book tour when, they argue, he could have raised more money for the DGA.
The other side: Several Democrats told Axios they believe the DGA made the right strategic decision in sending money to other states.
- Some of the Latin American leaders who lobbied Beshear were also consultants who could make money if he invested heavily in Texas.
- Many Latino leaders claim to speak for Latino voters, but they were wrong in recent elections, as Senator Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and others have pointed out.
- Nevada, Georgia, Wisconsin and Arizona are swing states likely to be more critical than Texas for a Democrat to get 270 Electoral College votes in 2028.
What they say: DGA Communications Director Sam Newton told Axios: “Unfortunately for DC staffers who are personally obsessed with 2028 and manufacturing Democratic infighting, the DGA and our Chairman, Governor Beshear, as well as all of our Democratic governors, remain solely focused on beating Trump and the Republicans to win as many of our 36 high-stakes gubernatorial races as possible. »
- A person familiar with conversations within the DGA told CNN that their internal polls left Hinojosa trailing Abbott by 5 points, but Hinojosa’s campaign released an internal poll this week showing her by 2.
- The DGA did not respond to questions about the discrepancy and referred Axios to its promotion of the poll showing Hinojosa up 2.
The bottom line: Even some Democrats who think the DGA made the right financial decision in not investing heavily in Texas think Beshear mishandled the political situation.
- If he can’t handle the politics of being DGA chairman, they say, how could he handle a presidential campaign, and potentially the White House?
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