The Chron asks a few of the candidates who didn’t make it out of the primaries to give it another try some day.
Let us now offer an encouraging observation to good candidates who fell short in this month’s primary elections: Even Rocky Balboa lost his first fight.
Remember that George W. Bush lost his first election and ended up living in the White House. Sylvester Turner lost his first two races for mayor, but he’s now sitting in the big office at Houston City Hall.
The lesson for aspiring elected officials is simple. Even successful politicians sometimes lose elections.
The editorial board has spent the past few months interviewing scores of candidates who took the initiative to run for public office. Even if they had no hope of winning, even if their qualifications have been questionable, their commitment has been inspiring.
A cancer researcher decided to run this year because he thinks America needs more scientists in public office. An ethics expert put his name on the ballot because he’s bothered by cronyism in our state capital. A retired rock-n-roll disc jockey went to a women’s march and came to the conclusion she needed to campaign for Congress. A woman who lived in an RV in Austin so she could lobby state lawmakers decided to run for the Texas Legislature.
We met some mighty impressive citizens who put their reputations on the line and their names on the ballot but ended up losing their primaries. Indeed, many of them faced such stiff competition they didn’t even win our endorsement. But some of them have been so compelling we want to encourage them to stay in politics. They deserve a second mention, because we hope we see their names on the ballot again in the future.
I made the same observation at the start of primary season, along with the hope that some of those folks would take another shot. City Councils and school boards always need good people, and those opportunities will be there next year. Among those the Chron singled out for praise were Jason Westin, Silky Malik, and Armen Merjanian. I hope they take the Chron’s words to heart.