Texas AFL-CIO COPE Releases New Round of Runoff Endorsements
The Texas AFL-CIO COPE Board approved 10 new endorsements in the May 24 Democratic primary runoff election, including support of Joe Jaworski for Attorney General and Jay Kleberg for Land Commissioner. “In the runoffs, our members will continue to fight for candidates who will fight for working Texans,” Texas AFL-CIO President Rick Levy said. “The 2022 elections will decide whether our state addresses bottom-of-the-barrel access to health care, protects and defends public and higher education, ends the war on teachers and public education, fixes a broken electric grid, stops voter suppression, and much more,” Levy said. “The candidates we have endorsed will champion these issues and will fight for working families to ensure that they have a fair shot.” It takes two-thirds of COPE representatives to endorse, and some runoff contests include two strong candidates, several to the point where an endorsement was not possible.Texas AFL-CIO COPE May 24 Runoff Endorsements(Candidates Previously Endorsed in March 1 Primary Have Asterisks)StatewideLieutenant Governor – Mike Collier*Attorney General – Joe JaworskiComptroller – Janet Dudding*Land Commissioner – Jay KlebergCongressionalCD 1 – Jrmar Jefferson*CD 21 – Claudia Adreana Zapata*CD 24 – Derrick T. Gay*CD 28 – Jessica Cisneros*CD 38 – Diana Martinez AlexanderTexas SenateSD 27 – Sara Stapleton-BarreraTexas HouseHD 22 – Christian “Manuel” Hayes*HD 37 – Ruben CortezHD 76 – Suleman LalaniHD 100 – Venton Jones HD 114 – John BryantHD 147 – Jolanda JonesState Board of EducationDistrict 1 – Laura Marquez*District 2 – Pete GarciaDistrict 4 – Coretta Mallet-Fontenot* The COPE Board also endorsed two candidates seeking officer positions in the Texas Democratic Party – Gilberto Hinojosa for Chair and Lee Forbes for Secretary. Those elections take place at the State Democratic Convention July 14-16. The Texas AFL-CIO is the state labor federation consisting of 240,000 affiliated union members who advocate for working families in Texas. The Texas AFL-CIO COPE is the political arm of the Texas AFL-CIO, and the COPE Committee is the body that is authorized to update endorsements as needed after the Texas AFL-CIO COPE Convention takes place. opeiu277/afl-cio