I’ll Take Texas State House District 137 For The Wu

Ed. Note: Asian American Action Fund has made no endorsements in the Texas Democratic Primary Runoffs

In May I strongly encouraged support for Gene Wu. That support succeeded, putting Wu in a strong first place going into the runoff.

Those vote totals look unpleasantly low. 4% turnout surprised me given that the primary lacked a high-profile race and was in May instead of March. Here’s the results by precinct in map form thanks to Greg Wythe:

View HD137 – Gene 1st Round in a larger map

Basically, the colors go Blue for Wu; Green for Smith; and Orange for Madden. Winkler didn’t carry any precincts. Darker shades represent majorities. Medium shades denote 40% and above. Lighter shades denote smaller pluralities.

Wu has endorsements from community leaders including Hubert Vo, Melissa Noriega, Sylvia Garcia, Chris Bell, Carol Alvarado, Peter Brown, Sue Lovell, and Michael Skelly. Wu’s opponent received the Chronicle’s endorsement. I feel the Chronicle was short-sighted; Wu has nearly all the qualifications the Chronicle likes in Smith and then some. The Chronicle’s endorsement, however, is likely worth less in this State House district then its average value in Greater Houston.

If Wu can turn out the same voters — including lots of voters Smith could never hope to reach — and capture a decent chunk of the Madden and Winkler supporters who bother to come out again, he’ll have the nomination. Whoever has the Democratic nomination is expected to become the next representative for HD 137.

If you’re not able to vote for Gene Wu, I hope you’re willing to contribute for his race to become the first Democratic Chinese American Texas State Representative. He impressed a lot of people who ran across him during the Texas Democratic Party Convention last month. Federal snobs, keep an eye on him; I don’t think Austin will be his final stop.

Early voting started yesterday with 199 voting in the three early voting locations closest to HD137. Early voting runs through Friday, July 27 (7AM to 7PM each day) and election day is Tuesday, July 31. On election day, a voter must vote in his or her precinct. During early voting, a voter may vote at any of these locations in Harris County:

Go vote and, if you live in Texas House District 137, vote Wu.

- Justin Gillenwater