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Paleo's avatar

That's a surprise.

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MPC's avatar

Maybe she saw some internal polling for 2026 that didn’t look good for her if she ran for re-election?

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James Trout's avatar

Sometimes that's all it takes. Hillary Rodham Clinton was considering running for Governor of Arkansas in 2002. It took ONE poll for her and Bill to change their mind and run in New York.

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MPC's avatar

Whatever the reason, I’m thrilled. She, Sarah, RDS and Hot Wheels are the worst governors in our country. So happy she and RDS are OUT next year.

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PollJunkie's avatar

James Talarico should seriously run against Hot Wheels in Texas and Allred against Paxton. Trump is in negative approval territory in Texas. Nationally, he is back to Hillary and 2018 levels among Latinos. Paxton also has a underwater favoribility in Texas while Allred is still viewed favorably. Hot wheels is still popular but his position on school vouchers isn't.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/04/07/texas-democrats-search-for-2026-candidates-as-they-resist-donald-trump/

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/trumps-approval-rating-keeps-getting-worse.html

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Henrik's avatar

I’d rather Talarico run against Paxton for Senate, honestly. The man is a generational talent eclipsing even peak Beto

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MPC's avatar

Talarico is a guy I can see squishy TX Republicans voting for (as well as party line Democrats) for governor.

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Brad Warren's avatar

I think Abbott is pretty entrenched, unfortunately.

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MPC's avatar

I’m really skeptical too.

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PollJunkie's avatar

He's not focused on national politics and he'd make a great Governor. Allred's proved himself to be a good Senate candidate, defeated Cruz in the debate and polled 5 points better than Harris.

Talarico is better than Peak Beto though.

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Paleo's avatar

I guess now that Noem is no longer governor. Although Bill Lee is pretty dreadful.

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michaelflutist's avatar

Where does the nickname "Hot Wheels" come from (and I don't mean the toy cars, which I used to play with as a child)?

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JanusIanitos's avatar

I believe it's a disparaging comment aimed at Abbott being in a wheelchair.

Personally I rather dislike attacks of that style. He's a shitty person for reasons that don't deal with his physical disability.

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michaelflutist's avatar

If so, it's despicable. We need to be better than that!

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stevk's avatar

Agree..no need to bring his disability into it...

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MPC's avatar

Hot Wheels is the kindest nickname for Abbott. I’m not going to be nice about elected Republicans when they call us worse names. I have a nastier one for Abbott, but I’m not going to say it.

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JanusIanitos's avatar

We can give them their fully earned lack of respect without attacking them in ways that are wholly inappropriate.

Attack them for their character, not physical things that they little or no control over. Similar to how we shouldn't use sexist language while attacking someone like Boebert.

Mock him with something like "Fled Cruz" from when Cruz went to Cancun: it's making fun of him through his actions.

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Zero Cool's avatar

Jasmine Crockett means well with her political agenda but she ought to dial down on her rhetoric if it means stooping to personal attacks like this.

I am not a fan of Greg Abbott but from what I read about how he got paralyzed, it’s awful. He got hit by a tree and was limited in his life as a result. Would we like it if Senator Tammy Duckworth got the same treatment by the GOP?

We need to win in TX first. Period.

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PollJunkie's avatar

I thought it was about his bussing of migrants tp New York and Chicago.

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Andrew's avatar

I believe that’s the spin Crockett gave. “Hot wheels” had its day in the press and she backpedaled and had to spin it. I hope she learned a lesson and won’t do that again. Giving “spin” is for hot wheels and Republicans.

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Mark's avatar

I never heard about that. So they took a poll in 1999 or 2000 about the 2002 Governor's race?

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Avedee Eikew's avatar

I'm curious too did she consider running for senate in Arkansas in 2002? 2004 was really the first election I followed somewhat closely.

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Brad Warren's avatar

She was elected to the Senate in New York in 2000, so I highly doubt she considered any Arkansas races in 2002.

Maybe she thought about running for governor of Arkansas in 1998? Still would have been odd timing.

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Andrew's avatar

Why not? Polling for a race three years out isn’t strange at all if you got money and a desire. There are a lot more variables that could change in that amount of time so the polling might not seem as valuable. But, a big fat fucking no would settle things for a lot of people.

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DivergentAxis(DA)'s avatar

Yeah, she was the only Governor underwater ( comfortably) in a Morning Consult Governor Approval poll.

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MPC's avatar
Apr 11Edited

Can you imagine Reynolds defending DOGE after her defunding public education in Iowa? Whomever she was going to run against was almost certain to tie her to Elon and taking away jobs from veterans.

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Toiler On the Sea's avatar

More likely internal primary polling than GE polling.

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Henrik's avatar

Wow, that’s unexpected. Though she’s been in for 2.5 terms so I guess maybe it shouldn’t be

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Avedee Eikew's avatar

That will be one to watch. It require stars to align right but Strong D candidate, a race to the bottom on the R side with Republicans having to push each other to the far right to win the primary and strong dem year, I could see it happening.

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Buckeye73's avatar

Possible Terry Branstad comeback? /s

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stevk's avatar

This is a race worth investing. There's still enough downballot D DNA in Iowa that we'd have a shot at it in a wave year (which 2026 could well be) with the right candidate...

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Darren Monaghan's avatar

Fred Hubbell NEARLY knocked off Reynolds in 2018, could he run again? Was expected to win, but fell short with Reynolds winning 50% - 48%. He still won 3/4 congressional districts despite losing!! 💙🇺🇲

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Brad Warren's avatar

It's amazing how close we came to going 4/4 in Iowa's House races that year (Steve King's seat would have been a one-term rental, but still...).

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Andrew's avatar

I’ve been getting ads and texts from the only current IA Dem statewide elected official, Rob Sand. I don’t know if he’s announced for Gov yet but I’m leaning towards she saw a poll and could be scared. Typing up this comment made me go finally Google the guy and he’s a good looking 42 year old who can pull off flannel. Maybe a little young looking but if he can win statewide in IA, game fucking on.

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Brad Warren's avatar

Didn't she endorse Ron DeSanctimonious? That kind of dissent is NOT tolerated.

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