The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's strategy to destroy Democrat Laura Moser's bid for Congress in Texas backfired on Tuesday night, when she qualified for a primary runoff in a key district that Democrats hope to win in an effort to regain control of the House next year.
Moser, a Houston journalist and the creator of a text-messaging tool instrumental in channeling progressive anger into activism against President Donald Trump, finished in second place during Tuesday's Democratic primary in Texas' seventh congressional district, Politico reports. She will face leading candidate Lizzie Pannill Fletcher, an attorney, in the runoff on May 22. The Democratic candidates seek to challenge Rep. John Culberson (R., Texas), who has represented the Houston-area district since 2001.
The DCCC published an opposition research memo against Moser a few weeks ago that painted her as a "Washington insider" and as somebody that shows disdain for Texas. It pointed out that the candidate had written in 2014 she would "sooner have her teeth pulled" than relocate to Texas, where she grew up.
The DCCC's strategy, however, backfired among the progressive base of the party, with political operatives and media figures castigating the strategy.
In her closing ad "Our Turn," released before Tuesday's primary, Moser painted herself as a grassroots leader standing up to the Democratic establishment.
"We have to fix our broken politics ― and that starts by rejecting the system where Washington party bosses tell us who to choose," Moser said. "We tried that before and look where it got us."
Moser previously lived in Washington, D.C. with her husband, who owns a political consulting firm, but moved to the Houston-area district to run.