Here are the worst candidates Texans elected in the 2026 blue wave
Houston Chronicle · The Editorial Board ·
The Houston Chronicle editorial board lists some of the worst politicians who won in 2026 as a reminder to pick candidates based on quality rather than party.
It wasn’t all sunshine, rainbows and blue skies in Texas on election night.
While many of the editorial board’s preferred candidates prevailed at the top of the ticket, the blue wave that James Talarico and Gina Hinojosa surfed to victory also swept a lot of flotsam and jetsam onto Texas’ political shores.
It’s clear that most voters in both parties didn’t heed our plea to split their tickets, particularly in lower-profile races on Harris County’s lengthy ballot. If Texans can’t occasionally vote for a candidate on the other team, both parties must place a far greater emphasis on vetting candidates in primaries. Many Texans are thankful that vile candidates like Bo French lost, but he never should’ve made it to the general election in the first place. Our democracy, statewide and nationally, will be far healthier when voters aren’t simply picking the lesser of two evils, or blindly choosing any candidate with a D or R next to their name.
Read the full story at Houston Chronicle · All coverage of this story