Election Updates: Biden and Harris renew push for support of Black voters. (2024)

House Majority PAC, the super PAC affiliated with House Democratic leadership, said it would spend $100 million this year on abortion rights messaging, including advertising and get-out-the-vote efforts. This “Reproductive Freedom Accountability Fund” is part of an overall $186 million spend that the PAC announced last month, a spokeswoman said.

Rosie Cuellar, the sister of Representative Henry Cuellar, was defeated on Tuesday in the Democratic primary for a state House seat that overlaps with her brother’s U.S. House district in southwest Texas. Rosie Cuellar’s defeat in the primary could be a sign of a backlash in the region’s Democratic base against her brother, who has been indicted on charges of bribery and money-laundering.

The Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, who campaigned against Dade Phelan, the Texas House speaker, said in a statement that Phelan won on Tuesday by getting Democrats to vote for him in the open primary election, and he threatened Republican House members thinking of renewing their support for Phelan as speaker: “You will not return if you vote for Dade Phelan again.”

Craig Goldman, the chair of the Texas House Republican Caucus, defeated John O’Shea by a comfortable margin in the Republican primary for Texas’ 12th Congressional District on Tuesday. Last year, Goldman voted to impeach Ken Paxton, Texas’ attorney general, and Paxton had backed O’Shea.

Biden and Harris make a new push to strengthen support from Black voters.

After the rally, dozens of Black leaders will embark on a nationwide “week of action” to mobilize Black voters in battleground states, according to the Biden campaign. The campaign also says it plans to team up with national groups to hold events, recruit surrogates and speak directly to Black communities through November.

The event is only the latest attempt by the Biden campaign to win back support from Black voters, who have long been known as the “backbone” of the Democratic Party.

This month, Mr. Biden delivered the commencement address at Morehouse College, a historically Black men’s college in Atlanta, and then flew to Detroit to speak at the largest N.A.A.C.P. dinner in the nation. Last week, Ms. Harris spoke in Philadelphia at a convention of the Service Employees International Union, one of the country’s most diverse labor unions

The Biden campaign also released a television ad last week that was geared toward Black voters in battleground states and that accused former President Donald J. Trump of having “stood with violent white supremacists.”

But even in Philadelphia — a city that Mr. Biden visits more than any other, to the consternation of some Pennsylvania Democrats — Black voters have expressed skepticism of the president. In recent interviews with The New York Times, many said that they were worried about the cost of living and immigration and that they thought Mr. Biden was doing more to address foreign wars than domestic problems.

Mr. Trump, who has often relied on stereotypes to appeal to Black voters, tried to capitalize off their disaffection during a rally in the Bronx last Thursday, when he appeared with the rappers Sheff G and Sleepy Hallow, who have been charged with violent gang-related crimes. Mr. Biden’s campaign is aiming to counter Black voters’ dissatisfaction and blunt any momentum Republicans hope to garner as a result of it.

In a statement, Quentin Fulks, the president’s principal deputy campaign manager, described the efforts as “the next phase of our campaign’s ongoing historic investments in outreach” to Black voters.

“While we are busy putting in the work to earn Black America’s support, Donald Trump continues to show just how ignorant he is,” he said. “Hosting janky rap concerts to hide the fact that he lacks the resources and competence to genuinely engage our community.”

Here’s what happened in the Texas runoff elections.

U.S. House District 23

Representative Tony Gonzales, a Republican who recently called some far-right members of his party “scumbags,” barely survived a challenge from his right after being forced into a runoff. He fended off his primary opponent, Brandon Herrera, a gun rights activist, by roughly 400 votes.

Mr. Herrera had received less than 25 percent of the vote in an earlier five-person primary, but then surged to 49 percent in the runoff on Tuesday.

Mr. Gonzales was first elected in 2020 to represent a swing district along the border, but the seat was made more solidly Republican through redistricting. And Mr. Gonzales has bucked the party line on some issues: He voted for bipartisan gun control legislation after the massacre at a school in Uvalde, Texas, and for a gay marriage bill. He also once opposed hard-line immigration policies, and the Texas Republican Party censured him — but he has since shifted toward them.

Mr. Herrera, a YouTuber who calls himself “the AK guy” after the AK-47 rifle, had consolidated much of the vote that went to multiple right-wing candidates who opposed Mr. Gonzales in the first round. He had also been endorsed by Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida and other members of the House Freedom Caucus.

But House Republican leaders stuck by Mr. Gonzales, and their support may have in part rescued Mr. Gonzales in a race that hung by a knife’s edge into early Wednesday morning.

U.S. House District 28

Jay Furman, a retired Navy officer, won the Republican primary in the 28th District, which stretches from the outskirts of San Antonio to the southern border. He will challenge Representative Henry Cuellar, a centrist Democrat who has been indicted on bribery charges.

Mr. Furman, who served in the military for nearly 30 years, beat Lazaro Garza Jr., a rancher, in a landslide, winning more than 65 percent of the vote.

In a four-person primary, Mr. Furman won about 45 percent of the vote and Mr. Garza won 27 percent to advance to the runoff.

Both candidates had made immigration central to their campaigns, echoing former President Donald J. Trump’s rhetoric about an “invasion” and his calls for a sweeping crackdown. Mr. Garza had also emphasized that he was born and raised in the district.

In a separate race on Tuesday, Mr. Cuellar’s sister — Rosie Cuellar, a former county tax assessor — was defeated in a Democratic primary for a state House seat. That loss could be a sign of how the Cuellar name has been tarnished by his indictment.

Texas House District 21

The speaker of the Texas House, Dade Phelan, edged out his Trump-backed opponent in the Republican primary for his seat, winning by fewer than 400 votes.

David Covey, a former county party leader, had nearly unseated the top Republican in the Texas House despite having never run for state office before. He was backed by several wealthy donors and endorsed by Mr. Trump, whose blessing carries significant influence in Republican primaries. In the first round of voting, Mr. Covey had narrowly led Mr. Phelan, 46 percent to 43 percent. In Tuesday’s runoff, Mr. Phelan took 50.7 percent of the vote.

The opposition to Mr. Phelan was driven in large part by the state attorney general, Ken Paxton, who was seeking revenge for the Texas House’s vote to impeach him on charges of corruption and abuse of office. Mr. Paxton was acquitted by the Texas Senate and had campaigned for Mr. Covey.

Texas House speaker survives a challenge from the hard right.

Millions poured in to the campaigns during the primary, including large donations from West Texas oil and gas billionaires and out-of-state school-choice advocates who backed the challenger, David Covey. For his part, Mr. Phelan had help from deep-pocketed donors like Miriam Adelson, the Las Vegas casino magnate and widow of the Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson.

Mr. Covey, a technical adviser to the oil and gas industry who has described himself as a “very committed Christian and a conservative,” led Mr. Phelan in the first round of voting in March, when neither candidate won a majority.

But during the runoff, Mr. Phelan rallied his supporters and campaign contributors, significantly out-raising his opponent through the middle of May.

“We came this close,” Mr. Covey said in a speech to supporters in Orange, Texas. He added that even in defeat his campaign had started a movement.

Mr. Phelan, in declaring victory on Tuesday night in Beaumont, told a crowded room of campaign volunteers, supporters and several members of the Texas House that the campaign against him had been based on “lies” and “deceit.”

“We’re done with that.” Mr. Phelan said. “House District 21 is not for sale.”

The close call for Mr. Phelan, who had not faced a challenger from either party in a decade, was likely to reverberate in Republican politics. His campaign raised more than $12.6 million to defend him.

Many activist Republicans in Texas see Mr. Phelan as insufficiently conservative. Chief among their complaints: He supported the longstanding Texas House practice of giving some committee chairmanships to the opposing party.

Ousting Mr. Phelan became the biggest prize sought by a hard-right faction of the Republican Party that includes the state attorney general, Ken Paxton, and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. That faction, which is aligned with Mr. Trump, has been trying to remake the Texas House, a moderating force in state politics, in the mold of the more rigidly conservative Texas Senate.

Defending Mr. Phelan became the goal of many members of the party’s old guard, including a former governor, Rick Perry, who campaigned on behalf of Mr. Phelan and appeared with him several times during the primary race.

The aggressive focus on Mr. Phelan came after the Texas House voted to impeach Mr. Paxton on charges of corruption and abuse of office last year. (Mr. Paxton was acquitted in a Senate trial that Mr. Patrick presided over.)

And it followed a session in which a small number of rural Republicans in the Texas House once again blocked proposals for state-funded vouchers that families could use to send children to private schools.

Gov. Greg Abbott, who has campaigned against Texas House members who opposed the voucher proposals, stayed on the sidelines in Mr. Phelan’s primary race.

Though Mr. Phelan is now very likely to win re-election in November in his strongly Republican seat, he is not guaranteed to have another legislative session as speaker. Some Republican representatives have already been suggested as possible replacements, setting the stage for a renewed fight for control of the Texas House.

A Republican Navy veteran will face Henry Cuellar in South Texas.

Mr. Cuellar and his wife, Imelda Cuellar, are accused of accepting at least $598,000 over seven years from a Mexican bank and an oil company owned by the government of Azerbaijan, according to the federal indictment. He has denied any wrongdoing.

In his district, which stretches from his hometown, Laredo, and the U.S. southern border to the eastern outskirts of San Antonio, Mr. Cuellar is considered an institution. He has powerful allies on both sides of the aisle and has survived two bruising Democratic primary contests. Even former President Donald J. Trump — who is on trial over allegations that he falsified business records — has come to his defense, arguing Mr. Cuellar became a target of the Biden administration because he supports tight border policies.

Mr. Cuellar’s fund-raising efforts have dwarfed those of his Republican opponent. At the end of March, Mr. Cuellar had raised nearly $2 million and had more than $415,000 cash on hand. As of May, Mr. Furman had raised just under $195,500 and had roughly $2,013 cash on hand, according to the latest federal filings for each campaign.

Still, Mr. Furman is betting the charges against Mr. Cuellar have improved his odds. The election forecasters Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball have both shifted their rating for the general election from likely Democratic to leans Democratic.

Mr. Furman, who grew up in Austin and lives in San Antonio, served in the military for nearly 30 years before returning to Texas. Like Mr. Garza, he has made immigration central to his campaign. He echoes Mr. Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric and calls for hard-line actions, including mass deportations. On his website, he also has promised to tackle inflation, empower small businesses and block “‘woke’ insanity.”

In an interview, Mr. Furman argued the charges against Mr. Cuellar were “exactly in line with what the people have come to expect of the Cuellar dynasty.” But he also echoed Mr. Trump in his criticism of the Justice Department, which he contended had been weaponized against conservatives.

“My goal is not only to highlight his charges,” he said, “but also the arbitrary capricious enforcement of the law by our Department of Justice.”

Texas congressman wins runoff, bolstering G.O.P. effort to hold the House.

He barely survived the runoff election, and was clinging to a slim margin as The Associated Press declared him the victor early Wednesday morning.

The race divided House Republicans in a vivid display of the rifts that have plagued the party during a tumultuous Congress. Representative Bob Good of Virginia, who leads the House Freedom Caucus, and the prominent right-wing Representatives Chip Roy of Texas and Matt Gaetz of Florida endorsed Mr. Herrera. But G.O.P. leaders rallied around Mr. Gonzales, and Speaker Mike Johnson held a major fund-raiser for him in the district in April.

He also underwent something of a transformation during the race, from being an opponent of his party’s hard-line immigration stances to one of the chief proponents of House Republicans’ strict border enforcement bill.

A defining issue in the race was Mr. Gonzales’s support of a bipartisan bill to address gun violence called the Safer Communities Act, which fell short of the sweeping gun control measures Democrats have long sought but enhanced background checks and incentivized states to enact so-called red flag laws, among other measures.

Mr. Gonzales cited the deadliest school shooting in Texas history, which occurred in his district at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, as a contributing factor behind his support of the bill. Even so, the Republican Party of Texas voted to censure Mr. Gonzales after the vote.

Mr. Herrera argued that Mr. Gonzales had turned his back on Texas conservatives, and said he would work to repeal gun restrictions if elected.

Mr. Herrera wrote on social media that a vote for him would “slap the Uniparty establishment in the face. Let’s send the message to DC that if they vote against the people, they will lose their jobs.”

The seat was once in a hotly contested swing district, where a moderate Republican voice would likely be needed to win in a general election. But redistricting after the 2020 election made it more favorable terrain for Republicans. Even so, supporters of Mr. Gonzales warned that a Herrera victory could put the district back in play for a general election, in which House Republicans who hold a bare majority are grasping to keep control.

With right-wing Republicans backing his opponent, Mr. Gonzales went after them personally in an interview on CNN in April, deepening the tensions.

“It’s my absolute honor to be in Congress, but I serve with some real scumbags,” Mr. Gonzales said. He brought up allegations against Mr. Gaetz that resulted in an F.B.I. investigation but no charges.

“Look, Matt Gaetz — he paid minors to have sex with him at drug parties,” he said.

Mr. Gonzales also insinuated that Mr. Good was a racist.

“Bob Good endorsed my opponent, a known neo-Nazi,” Mr. Gonzales said. “These people used to walk around with white hoods at night; now they are walking around with white hoods in the daytime.”

He also took aim at Mr. Herrera in a memorable attack ad, styled after a famous salsa commercial, accusing him of mocking both former President Donald J. Trump and veteran suicide. Mr. Gonzales’s ad noted that Mr. Herrera hails from North Carolina.

“You deserve a Texas conservative,” Mr. Gonzales said in the ad.