By Patrick Svitek
First in The Blast: Democrat Sri Preston Kulkarni is getting a new national endorsement in his second bid for the 22nd U.S. Congressional District: End Citizens United, the group focused on campaign finance reform.
“Sri Preston Kulkarni has dedicated his career to strengthening our democracy, and he’ll continue that fight in Congress,” ECU’s president, Tiffany Muller, says in a statement. “End Citizens United is proud to endorse Sri Preston Kulkarni, and we look forward to helping him win.”
Kulkarni, who’s not taking corporate PAC money, is running again after his 2018 loss to now-retiring U.S. Rep. Pete Olson, R-Sugar Land, by 5 percentage points. Kulkarni, a former diplomat, doesn’t have a clear path to his party’s 2020 nomination, though, with two other Democrats running: Houston lawyer Nyanza Moore and Pearland City Councilman Derrick Reed.
End Citizens United also endorsed Kulkarni last cycle — but not until August 2018, months after he prevailed in a primary runoff. National Democrats did not target TX-22 that year, but now it’s one of six districts they’re working to flip in Texas.
Over a dozen Republicans have lined up for the seat in 2020.