Super Tuesday is less than a week away — March 5 — and voters in one U.S. territory and 15 states, including Texas, will head to the polls. Rice University political scientist Mark Jones is available to discuss what to expect from election day in the Lone Star State.
“Absent a miracle, the results of March 5 in large states such as California and Texas are likely to spell the end of Nikki Haley’s long-shot campaign and provide Donald Trump with a sufficient number of delegates to position him to possess an absolute majority by the close of voting on March 19,” Jones said.
Jones is also available to weigh in on statewide and local races in Texas.
“While Attorney General Ken Paxton’s ‘Revenge Tour 2024’ is unlikely to unseat many incumbent Republicans who voted to impeach the attorney general in the spring, it has resulted, combined with Governor Greg Abbott’s efforts against a much smaller number of school choice opponents, in more competitive Republican Texas House primaries than ever before,” Jones said.
Meanwhile on the Democratic side, Jones said Houston Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee is in the electoral fight of her life against Amanda Edwards, a former at-large member of the Houston City Council.
“Houston Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee faces the most serious primary challenge since she was first elected in 1994 from Edwards, who has a realistic prospect of victory on March 5,” he said.
When it comes to statewide races, Jones said Congressman Colin Allred is well positioned to win an absolute majority of the vote in the Democratic U.S. Senate primary March 5 and avoid a May runoff with Texas State Senator Roland Gutierrez.
Jones also serves as a fellow at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. His research and expertise on the Texas Legislature has been widely cited by local, state and national media as well as numerous political campaigns. For more information on Jones, visit https://profiles.rice.edu/faculty/mark-p-jones.
To schedule an interview, contact Jones directly at 832-466-6535.