Progressive Candidates Win House Seats From Texas and Florida


At least three progressive Democrats won races Tuesday for House seats in Florida and Texas congressional districts.

With 99% of the vote counted, Maxwell Alejandro Frost, a Democrat, beat Republican nominee Calvin Wimbish to win Florida’s 10th Congressional District seat, 59% to almost 40%, The Associated Press reported.

Frost, 25, will become the first representative of Generation Z in the House.

“As the first Generation Z member of Congress, from Day One I will fight to end gun violence, win Medicare for All, transform our racist criminal justice system, and end the climate crisis,” Frost says on his campaign website.

Frost won the Democratic primary in August after being endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. He was one of several progressive-backed candidates to win primaries this year for open House seats.

Former Austin City Council member Greg Casar, with 89% of the vote counted, won Texas’ 35th Congressional District by beating Republican nominee Dan McQueen with 76.6% of the vote, AP reported.

Casar, 33, prevailed in a Democratic primary in March with high-profile endorsements from Sanders, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Justice Democrats, Our Revolution, and Sunrise Movement.

Among Casar’s policy priorities are Medicare for All, tuition-free higher education, and the legalization of marijuana.

Casar’s other policy goals, as stated on his website, include increasing access to abortion in Texas. Casar has taken credit for the Austin City Council’s passage of amendments to fund abortion travel costs in the Lone Star State.

His campaign website states that Casar “is dedicated to increasing access to reproductive health care, repealing the Hyde Amendment, and codifying Roe v. Wade through the Women’s Health [Protection] Act.”

With 75% or the vote counted, progressive Democrat Jasmine Crockett was leading Republican James Rodgers in Texas’ 30th Congressional District. Crockett, backed by Sanders and Our Revolution, stepped up as the district’s Democratic nominee in May after Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson announced her retirement.

Crockett proposed to expand voting access and codify Roe v. Wade, among policy priorities on her campaign website.

This is a breaking story and will be updated. See a previous report by this author on 10 progressive-backed candidates to watch.

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