As Biden speaks, Ukraine crisis escalates and midterm elections begin

Russian missiles terrorize Ukraine. President Biden hopes to rally the nation with his first formal address to Congress. And tonight, the first votes in the 2022 midterm elections will be counted.

This is an exceptional political moment both at home and abroad.

These first midterm votes are being cast and counted in Texas today in the Republican and Democratic primaries, providing the first glimpses of voter prioritization amid multiple national and international crises.

Our colleagues tracked the turnout, the main themes and the best races as part of our Texas Election Livestream today. Follow the results as they come in.

Here are some of the highlights:

  • Republican lawmakers across the country have responded to former President Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated allegations of electoral fraud by passing legislation restricting access to the vote. In Texas, voters are already facing higher absentee ballot rejection rates. Now the ballots themselves were rejected more often than usual. This is reported by Nick Corasanity.

  • Most voters will need to vote in person or have already done so, as Texas’ eligibility criteria for mail-in voting are unusually narrow. Maggie Astor writes.

  • The most famous progressive challenger of the evening, Jessica Cisneros, doesn’t focus her early messages on progressive goals. Instead, she explores the new vulnerabilities of incumbent Democrat Henry Cuellar, who is trapped in an FBI investigation, although its purpose is not entirely clear. Jonathan Weissman reports from Laredo.

  • Dozens of Hispanic voters and candidates in South Texas explained why the Republican Party is invading the region. Trump-style grievance politics resonates with Hispanic residents of the Rio Grande Valley. Jennifer Medina reports from Brownsville.

  • It seems that it is abortion that is pushing Hispanic voters in South Texas towards the Republicans. Edgar Sandoval writes from Laredo.

  • Beto O’Rourke, a Democrat, made headlines in the 2019 crowded presidential primaries when he declared, “Hell yes, we’ll take your AR-15.” Now he’s running for governor in a state where Republicans have the upper hand. J. David Goodman reports from Tyler.

  • One candidate for the State Board of Education takes a unique approach to rising above party politics by running in the primaries of both major parties. Maggie Astor writes.

  • The redistricting has resulted in a decrease in the number of competitive districts and thus an increase in the number of races in which winning the primary is the most important competition. For Democrats and Republicans, this raises the importance of the campaign for the most ideologically oriented voters. Yet Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a Republican, says he refuses to “follow the line” and feuds with Trump allies like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green of Georgia. Shane Goldmacher reports from The Woodlands, Texas.

  • Gov. Greg Abbott has been pushing Texas even further to the right, and this has helped him garner Trump’s support for re-election. Today’s results will show how these efforts resonated with real Republican voters. J. David Goodman reports from Austin.

  • For Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, his loyalty to Trump may or may not be enough to win the Republican primary outright. J. David Goodman reports from Midland.

Thanks for reading. See you tomorrow.

— Blake and Leah

Was this newsletter sent to you? Register here to receive it in your inbox.

Is there anything you think we are missing? Anything you want to see more? We would like to hear from you. Email us at [email protected].