Texas
Houston-area Democrats line up in competitive primary to succeed John Whitmire in the Senate
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The last time Senate District 15 was an open seat was 1982 — before some of the candidates currently running for it were born.
But after four decades, John Whitmire, the former Senate dean who was elected Houston mayor in December, has moved on. The rare opening is fueling a competitive, six-way Democratic primary for the solidly blue, Houston-based seat in the Legislature’s upper chamber.
The Democratic candidates to succeed him are aligned on most big issues but touting different backgrounds and coalitions of support as they approach a gauntlet of elections this year. There is the March 5 primary, a May special election to finish the rest of Whitmire’s term — and potential runoffs to go with both of those — and then the November election.
“There’s lots of layers to this race,” said Art Pronin, a longtime Democratic activist in the Meyerland area.
The field features a sitting state representative — Jarvis Johnson — plus Whitmire’s 2022 primary challenger, Molly Cook, and the Democrat who first ran against U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Houston, six years ago, Todd Litton. There is also Karthik Soora, a renewable energy developer who was the first to declare when Whitmire was still the incumbent; Alberto “Beto” Cardenas Jr., a lawyer who has a long history in Houston civic life; and Michelle Anderson Bonton, executive director of the Anderson Center for the Arts.
The district is widely diverse — people of color are 71% of the population. Johnson and Bonton are Black, Cardenas is the only Hispanic candidate and Soora is Indian American.
The seat is solidly Democratic, though it overlaps with territory where voters have helped Democrats gain new ground in the Donald Trump era, like the 7th Congressional District.
“They want a fighter,” Pronin said of SD-15 voters, but also “you’ve got a lot of practical Democrats here.”
That dynamic is especially relevant in the current Senate, where Democrats are the minority party and must grapple with a lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick, who tolerates little dissent. At a recent forum hosted by the Meyerland Area Democrats Club, candidate after candidate vowed to stand up to Patrick while also finding common ground with Republicans on issues important to the district.
“You know how you handle a bully?” Johnson said, standing up and addressing an imaginary Patrick. “You look him straight in the eye and you hit him back. He may win the fight, but he’s gonna know he was in a fight with Jarvis Johnson.”
At the forum, Litton said he was running to tell Patrick and Gov. Greg Abbott to “get the hell out of” Texans’ private lives and schools. He also expressed hope that recent schisms inside the GOP — on school vouchers, for example — provided an opening for Democrats to collaborate with them on more issues.
For Johnson, who has served in the House since 2016, the pitch is straightforward.
“Experience, experience, experience,” Johnson said in an interview Wednesday, adding he is the only candidate who has “introduced a bill, worked a bill and passed a bill.”
The other candidates’ promises to be effective, he said, are “all conjecture — it’s all talk — at this point.”
Cook, meanwhile, is leaning into her background as an emergency room nurse. Her debut ad shows her heading to work in scrubs and bracing for dealing with things like complicated pregnancies under Texas’ abortion ban.
“I always tell people that businessmen and lawyers are incredibly important — [but] they’re very well-represented at the Capitol,” Cook said in an interview. “We could really use a nurse in that seat to bring expertise and experience that’s currently missing.”
The primary started taking shape long before Whitmire won the Houston mayoral runoff in December, with both Soora announcing in April and then Cook in May. Cook ran against Whitmire in the 2022 primary and got 42% of the vote.
Since the start, Soora has put himself forward as the freshest face and emphasized he would be the first member of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community to serve in the Senate. He also has not been afraid to draw contrasts.
“It’s not just about experience, it’s about the right type of experience,” said Soora, a former teacher and education nonprofit cofounder. “I don’t have experience going to the Legislature enriching myself or sitting down with lobbyists. I have experience helping students.”
Bonton is also emphasizing her background in education as a teacher and charter school founder. And she is also making an explicit demographic appeal, promising to be the first Black woman to be elected to the Texas Senate since Barbara Jordan.
Cardenas was the last candidate to enter the primary, filing minutes before the deadline in December. He has the support of U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, one of the city’s top Hispanic leaders and a former state senator.
Cardenas has a long history in law and politics that includes serving as general counsel to former Republican U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. At the forum, he sought to distinguish himself by advocating for a fairer tax system to better fund public education.
“The difference is who is actually going to deliver — is it gonna be about just delivering a great stump speech and voting no?” Cardenas said in an interview. “Or is it also going to be somebody who can work across the aisle, effectively legislate and bring the dollars back and then crack open a wider issue” — like taxes — “particularly for the district and Democrats?”
The March 5 primary is just the start of what could be five elections this year for Senate District 15. If no candidate wins a majority of the primary vote, it will go to a runoff on May 28. But before then, Abbott has called a May 4 special election to finish Whitmire’s term, which goes until January 2025. That could also go to a runoff, which would likely fall over the summer before the general election for the full term in November.
One Republican, Joseph Trahan, is currently running for the seat.
In the Democratic primary, Litton was the fundraising leader on the latest campaign finance reports, collecting $114,000 during the first 25 days of January. Johnson was second with $56,000 raised and Cook close behind with $50,000 in receipts. Litton also led in cash on hand as of Jan. 25, holding on to $187,000..
Litton has been using his fundraising ability — both in 2018 and now — to argue he could use the seat as a platform to boost Democratic turnout statewide. He has noted that when he ran against Crenshaw in 2018, he received more votes in the district than Hillary Clinton did two years earlier.
“I think that’s the biggest difference,” Litton said. “I’m not sure my competitors understand that.”
Cook has promised to use her community organizing experience to keep Democrats engaged year round. Last year, she juggled her SD-15 campaign with getting out the vote for Proposition B, a city charter amendment to give Houston more representation on a regional council. The proposition passed easily.
“I think there’s large portions for SD-15 that are looking for some new energy in that seat,” said Ashleigh Rickertsen, whose Greater Heights Democratic Club has endorsed Cook. “She works so hard and she doesn’t even have the job yet.”
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Live Updates – Tennessee Lady Vols vs. Texas Tech Softball (WCWS)
Current Score: Tied 0-0
***Note: If you want the latest updates make sure to refresh the story***
First Inning:
Top: Karlyn Pickens strikes the first batter out. Texas Tech hits a single that went off the glove of Pickens. Jackie Lis comes to the plate. She advances the runner, but she grounds out to short. Pickens gets a massive strikeout to end the inning. Great job by the Lady Vols ace.
Bottom: Tennessee will now come to the plate. Kaitlyn Terry is the pitcher for the Red Raiders. Sophia Knight will start it off. Knight hits an infield single thanks to her speed. Here comes game one’s MVP, Elsa Morrison. Morrison strikes out. Ella Dodge hits a grounder to second, which gets the runner out, but she is safe at first. Emma Clarke hits a line out to Williams at second base to end the inning, as she had to make a vertical effort to bring that one down.
Second Inning:
Top: Here comes former Lady Vol Taylor Pannell. She pops out. Pickens will face the Red Raiders’ pitcher, who also hits. Pickens gets the Lady Vols off the field.
Bottom: Leach lines out to begin the inning. Makenzie Butt pops out to right field, which will be out No. 2. Gabby Leach is out to end the inning for the Lady Vols.
Third Inning:
Top: Quiroga lines out to begin the inning, and Pickens continues to move strongly. Halleman grounded out to second for out No. 2. Williams grounded out to third, which will get the Lady Vols off the field.
Bottom: Bella Faw singles to get on base. Holley grounds out, but Faw advances to second. Knight is struck by a pitch, and there are now two on base for the Lady Vols with only one out this inning. This gives Tennessee two on with a runner in scoring position. Here comes the Red Raiders’ ace, Nija Canady. Morrison fouls out. A wild pitch advances both runners. One at third and one at second now with two outs. Dodge is hit by a pitch, and bases are now loaded for the Lady Vols. Canady forced a full count for Clarke with bases loaded, and Clarke collided with Lis around first base, and the bases were left loaded. Texas Tech escapes.
Fourth Inning:
Top: Pickens forces a groundout. Lis grounds out, and the Lady Vols have put two away quickly. Pickens retires her 11th straight batter after forcing a groundout to second base.
Bottom: Leach reaches to begin the inning. It was via an error. She will be taken out of the game for a pinch runner. Saviya Morgan is on base. Makenzie Butt is up to bat. Canady strikes Butt out. Morgan gets picked off at second base. Gabby Leach hits a single to center field.
Pre Game Information
The Tennessee Lady Vols are set for their next matchup in the softball realm, as this is the second game they will play in the Women’s College World Series. In their first game, they were victorious against the Texas Longhorns, as they defeated the Longhorns by a score of 6-3 in a game in which they were viewed as the underdogs. Now they will have to play another great team with the hopes of continuing to hold on to their advantage of having no losses in a two-loss tournament. After today, only two of the eight teams that advanced and two of the six teams that remain will be able to say that.
The Lady Vols are up first out of the two games today, and they will be playing against the Texas Tech Red Raiders. The Red Raiders are entering this game with no losses after defeating the Mississippi State Bulldogs in their game. The Bulldogs entered the event as the biggest underdog, but the Red Raiders can compete with any of the teams at the event. They had to defeat a Florida Gators team that won a series against the Lady Vols to get to the Women’s College World Series.
This game will be one of the more anticipated games in the whole tournament, as this may not even be the only time that these two match up throughout the World Series. Regardless, the Tennessee Lady Vols will look for another big moment in the biggest game of their season thus far.
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COLLEGE STATION, Texas — After spending most of Friday night wasting scoring opportunities, Adrian Lopez and his USC teammates headed into the ninth inning with plenty of confidence. Unfortunately for the Trojans, Texas State wasn’t done yet.
Lopez gave the Trojans the lead in the eighth inning with a home run at Blue Bell Park, but USC couldn’t close out the opener of the NCAA tournament’s College Station Regional.
Texas State’s Chase Mora greeted USC closer Adam Troy with a monstrous two-run home run to left field in the top of ninth, propelling the Bobcats to 5-4 upset before a crowd of 6,956.
“To take the lead right there late, we’re riding high feeling real good and confident going into the ninth,” Lopez said. “I think … the ball fell how it fell. It is what it is. But we’re pretty stoked and excited going into the ninth with the lead.”
Texas State coach Steve Trout mused that it felt as though the Bobcats were “on the ropes” all night. As trite as that might sound, he’s right.
Unfortunately for the Trojans, they never could deliver the knockout punch. Texas State wasn’t as forgiving. Mora was sitting on Troy’s fastball, and he pounced for his 11th home run of the year.
“Sure enough,” Mora said, “I got the pitch I was sitting on and made a good swing.”
Troy’s blown save was a major part of the story. He arguably wasn’t the biggest reason USC lost, though. The Trojans had plenty of chances. They wasted most of them, leaving 13 men on base on a night they struck out 12 times.
Moreover, the Trojans wasted a major bases-loaded scoring opportunity when Isaac Cadena was picked off at second base for the second out of the fifth. Walter Urbon then flew out to right to end the threat.
“We got picked off there at second base with one out,” USC coach Andy Stankiewicz said. “That was kind of a gut shot. We have to be better on the bases. We have to be a little more aware when we get off the bag there.
“I thought we executed fine to get runners where we needed to get them. The second part is we got to get them across home plate. That’s the part we didn’t do as well tonight.”
The Bobcats’ shaky defense spotted USC two unearned runs. The Trojans will surely lament, however, stranding runners in scoring position in each of the first seven innings.
The Trojans will now prepare to face Lamar University, which blew a five-run lead in a 7-5 loss to host Texas A&M earlier Friday.
If Stankiewicz’s Trojans return to the College World Series for the first time since 2001, the 12-time national champions must do it out of the losers’ bracket.
“We’re just going to battle our tails off to keep showing up,” said Abbrie Covarrubias, who gave the Trojans a 3-1 lead with a home run in the fourth inning. “We’re in the fire, so we’re just going to battle our way through and pour our hearts out really.”
USC right-hander Grant Govel, an All-Big Ten First Team selection, settled for a no-decision after giving up three runs on four hits with two walks and six strikeouts over 5 ⅔ innings.
He was relieved by freshman left-hander Sax Matson with one on and two outs in the top of the sixth. Matson escaped unscathed in the sixth, but he was relieved by right-hander Andrew Johnson with one on and two outs in the seventh.
The Trojans, who reached the Big Ten Tournament semifinals, have lost four of their last five games.
“We left some runners in scoring position,” Stankiewicz said. “I’d like to have those back. But they made some pitches when they needed to.”
Stankiewicz, Adrian Lopez and Covarrubias are adamant that they believe in Troy, who has a team-leading 12 saves this season. No other Trojan has more than three saves.
“He’s been our guy, like coach said,” Lopez said of Troy. “He has a number … of saves. We trust him with everything we have. I wouldn’t want anyone else throwing the last couple pitches of the game. Going tomorrow, everyone’s available. If he’s back in that same situation, I’m just as confident as ever.”
OKLAHOMA CITY — Mississippi State softball is playing in an elimination game at the Women’s College World Series.
The Bulldogs (43-20) are facing No. 2 seed Texas (47-12) at Devon Park on May 29 (6 p.m. CT, ESPN).
Mississippi State and its fans are doing everything they can to muster up some good luck, including using broccoli, which has become the team’s rally prop throughout the NCAA Tournament.
Some fans and parents of the players are even wearing T-shirts with images of broccoli on them that read “Broccoli Power.”
Here’s what to know about the shirts and why MSU is wearing them.
Why are Mississippi State fans wearing broccoli shirts?
Broccoli became MSU’s good luck charm after a fan known as Broccoli Guy started cheering them on at the Eugene Regional.
He used broccoli as pom-poms while dancing in the stands. For the regional final, MSU brought broccoli for players to hold in the dugout for good luck.
This trend continued during the super regionals, with MSU bringing broccoli on the bus, holding it in the dugout and posting pictures and videos of it on social media ahead of Game 3 against Oklahoma. Broccoli Guy also showed up to support the Bulldogs again.
Now, with the Bulldogs facing elimination at the WCWS, fans, parents and players are hoping the broccoli shirts, along with their physical stalks of broccoli, will help power them to a win over the Longhorns.
2026 Women’s College World Series schedule
All times CT
- May 28
- Game 1: Texas Tech 8, Mississippi State 0
- Game 2: Tennessee 6, Texas 3
- Game 3: Alabama 6, UCLA 3
- Game 4: Nebraska 5, Arkansas 3
- May 29
- Game 5: Mississippi State vs Texas (6 p.m., ESPN)
- Game 6: UCLA vs Arkansas (8:30 p.m., ESPN)
- May 30
- Game 7: Texas Tech vs Tennessee (2 p.m., ABC)
- Game 8: Alabama vs Nebraska (6 p.m., ESPN)
- May 31
- Game 9: Game 5 winner vs Game 8 loser (2 p.m., ABC)
- Game 10: Game 6 winner vs Game 7 loser (6 p.m., ESPN2)
- June 1
- Game 11: Game 7 winner vs Game 9 winner (11 a.m., ESPN)
- Game 12 (if necessary): Game 7 winner vs Game 9 winner (1:30 p.m., ESPN)
- Game 13: Game 8 winner vs Game 10 winner (6 p.m., ESPN2)
- Game 14 (if necessary): Game 8 winner vs Game 10 winner (8:30 p.m., ESPN2)
- June 3
- Finals Game 1 (7 p.m., ESPN)
- June 4
- Finals Game 2 (7 p.m., ESPN)
- June 5
- If necessary, finals Game 3 (7 p.m., ESPN)
Tia Reid covers Jackson State sports for the Clarion Ledger. Email her at treid@usatodayco.com and follow her on X @tiareid65.
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