‘I Did Not Need To Be Demeaned’: Jim Jordan, Democratic Rep Argue Over Speaking Time

'This is my time. I've been recognized'

Texas Democrats are seething against own party after Republican wins historic election: 'Taking Latinos in South Texas for granted'



Hispanic Democrats are venting frustration after Republicans flipped a region of south Texas that Democrats have controlled since the 19th century.

Republican Mayra Flores made history on Tuesday when she defeated Democrat Dan Sanchez in a special election for Texas' 34th Congressional district. Flores' victory is yet another signal that Democrats' stronghold over the Rio Grande Valley is quickly evaporating.

Flores said her victory shows that Hispanic Americans believe they "have been taken for granted" by Democrats. Sanchez, on the other hand, said he lost because national Democrats did not heavily support his campaign.

What are Democrats saying now?

Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas) told Politico that he hopes the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has learned its "lesson" after witnessing Flores' historic win.

"I hope the DCCC learns their lesson with this before it happens across the country," he said. "They have just forgotten about the brown people on the border. And that’s basically what it is. I’m not going to try to sugarcoat it anymore. They are taking Latinos in South Texas for granted."

If the DCCC and Democratic National Committee repeats its mistakes, Gonzalez could be out of a job. That is because after redistricting in the Lone Star State, Gonzalez will be competing against Flores in the general election for Texas' 34th Congressional District in November.

Still, despite Flores' victory, the DCCC and national Democrats are optimistic they can win in November. But Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), who also represents a border district, told Politico that Democrats have their work cut out for them.

"The moment you start getting people to say, ‘Well, it’s OK to vote Republican,’ then the next time will be easier," he said.

"The DCCC needs to sit down and look at South Texas seriously. I don’t think it’s a political realignment, but this should send a message to the DCCC," he added. "You can’t take Hispanics for granted, which they always do."

Democratic Reps. Sylvia Garcia and Veronica Escobar agreed with the fellow members of the Texas delegation.

"The DNC, the DCCC and all the Democratic national groups really need to take a hard look at what happened," Garcia said. "I realize this is a special, but it’s still given the Republicans a narrative to say: 'We flipped a seat.' And we should have done better."

"There is absolutely no logical reason why we should be losing any of these seats" Escobar told Politico. "I think it’s always important to invest in elections like that because I think there are consequences to that narrative. And it’s deeply concerning to me."

While Democrats blamed a lack of investment in the race, Republicans say they won because of messaging.

"Our guys were talking about inflation and the economy and crime and the border. What were they talking about? Jan. 6," said Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. "The border’s a big deal, and they’re not doing anything about it."

Democrats break ranks, demand Biden increase domestic oil production as he looks to Venezuela and Saudi Arabia



Democratic lawmakers are increasingly breaking with their party's narrative on fossil fuels as Americans face a growing oil crisis.

What do Democrats believe?

The Democratic Party's official 2020 platform committed to "combatting the climate crisis and pursuing environmental justice."

For years, Democrats have blamed fossil fuels for contributing to climate change and have advocated moving America's energy needs to renewable sources to slow the impacts of climate change. Doing so would require decreasing dependence on oil, coal, and gas, while increasing reliance upon solar, wind, hydro, and nuclear energy sources.

But what are some Democrats saying?

A group of Texas Democrats sent President Joe Biden a letter Tuesday calling on him to "unleash" American production of energy sources to "counter reliance on Russian oil and gas."

The letter — signed by Reps. Vicente Gonzalez, Sylvia Garcia, Henry Cuellar, and Filemon Vela — demanded that Biden send a "strong signal" to the world "that the United States will be a reliable producer and supplier of oil and natural gas for the foreseeable future."

Among the practical steps that Biden should take, the lawmakers said the president should "promote long-term American energy production," and they called on him to direct federal agencies to adopt policies empowering American energy producers.

"Domestic energy producers, refiners, and exporters are ready, willing, and able to work with your administration to give our allies access to a reliable source of energy and provide relief to American consumers," the lawmakers wrote. "We cannot wait for tomorrow to do what needs to be done today. We must unleash responsible domestic production to counter reliance on Russian oil and gas, while simultaneously cutting off Russia’s largest source of revenue. Now is the time to regain our energy independence and support our allies around the globe."

Two Democratic senators — Jon Tester (Mont.) and Joe Manchin (W.Va.) — also renewed calls on Tuesday for American companies to ramp up domestic production.

"We shouldn’t be advancing other countries that don’t share our values," Tester told CNN. "So, I think the opportunity here is to do it domestically, create jobs here, deal with it domestically, and also see if we can help Europe out, too."

Manchin said, "We should basically go back to the policies that we’ve had before. We have to do our leasing in the Gulf [of Mexico], OK, [Bureau of Land Management] lands have been off-target, all this has to go back into production. That’s all we’re asking for. And if we’re asking the rest of the world to step up, let’s show that we’re going to step up. And any oil that’s needed to our allies around the world, we produce it cleaner than anybody.”

Tester, Dem from Montana, on talk of importing Venezuelan and Iranian energy to offset Russian ban: "We shouldn't be advancing other countries who don't share our values."\n\nManchin: "If we are asking the rest of the world to step up, let's show that we're going to step up."pic.twitter.com/KHYeNYqoGF
— Manu Raju (@Manu Raju) 1646756238

Despite pleas from his own party, Biden has not signaled that he will urge American oil producers to help alleviate the growing energy crisis.

In fact, the Biden administration is reportedly looking internationally — to Venezuela and Saudi Arabia — to help meet American oil needs.

Meanwhile, deputy national security adviser Daleep Singh claimed Wednesday that even if American producers maximized their drilling capacity, the price of gas would be unaffected.

"That's why we have resolved to speed our transition toward cleaner, more sustainable, and renewable sources of energy," Singh said.