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Both Democrats and Republicans took to the polls yesterday across the Lone Star State for primary elections to determine November’s ballot selections. The results crowned some winners, including clinching the nomination for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, while sending a few key races to a run-off.

In the race to replace outgoing Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Republican voters were faced with few good options. For starters, they could vote for Gov. Rick Perry’s pick, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. Other candidates included Tea Party favorite Ted Cruz, former Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert, and professional football player Craig James. Dewhurst and Cruz have been the frontrunners throughout the campaign and will now face off in July in what has been deemed a battle between the Tea Party’s grassroots forces and the Republican establishment in Austin.

On the other side of the aisle, the Democrats will also host a summer run-off election to determine their nominee for U.S. Senate. Paul Sadler, a former legislator in the Texas House, is up against an unknown challenger, Grady Yarbrough, who does not have a campaign website and appears to be a perennial candidate. Progressive newcomer Sean Hubbard finished in a disappointing fourth place after campaigning across the state and being featured in the PBS candidate forum.

A congressional race to fill a newly-created seat will also be decided in the second round. Voters in the 33rd district, which stretches from Dallas to Ft. Worth, will decide between state lawmaker Marc Veasey of Ft. Worth and Dallas attorney Domingo Garcia. The seat is considered to be a safe bet for the Democrats in November and will likely be decided in the run-off.

Other news out of North Texas: Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez, the only woman elected to that post in the state, handily defeated her primary challenger yesterday and will move on to face Republican Kirk Launius in November. Dallas voters also sent a resounding message of support to their long-time representative with their congressional votes in the 30th district. The esteemed Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson won in a landslide, despite facing a rare primary challenge and recent controversy.

For more election results from across the state, visit Burnt Orange Report and Texas Tribune, both of which provided excellent coverage of Texas at the polls.

evolution complete

image via Think Progress

President Barack Obama chose to lend his support to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender couples across the United States as he expressed his support for marriage equality today in a groundbreaking interview with ABC News.

Though Obama had previously supported same-sex marriage rights as the state senator from a progressive district in Illinois, his official position as president has been that he is “evolving” on the issue. I guess his evolution is now complete.

The president’s announcement comes on the heels of several members of his administration going public with their support of marriage equality, including Education Secretary Arne Duncan, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, and Vice President Joe Biden.

The Obama administration has made great progress for LGBT Americans, including ending the military’s discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy; enacting legislation against hate crimes; banning federal workplace discrimination; appointing LGBT people to positions within his administration and the judicial system; and supporting the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, a federal law which defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. In Dec. 2011, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered a landmark speech before the United Nations declaring “gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights.” Despite these great strides in the right direction, there is still tremendous work to be done before LGBT equality is fully realized in the US.

While some have criticized Obama for playing politics with this issue, I respectfully disagree in light of the political landscape. I expected that Obama’s “evolution” wouldn’t reach its culmination until after he had been safely re-elected. While his support for equal marriage may galvanize the youth vote, it may also be a thorn in his side in critical electoral battlegrounds like Virginia and North Carolina.

This November, the choice is clear. We have all been hard on the president and have held his feet to the fire, and he came through for us, whether or not it was politically expedient for him to do so. Now we must stand with the president to turn the promise of equality into a reality for every American. It will happen if we make it happen.

The gay rights movement is NOW. Someday you’ll look back and remember fighting for equality or sitting on the sidelines. Do what’s right.

— Tyler Oakley (@tyleroakley) May 9, 2012

‘bully’ premieres april 13

Good news! The new documentary Bully will premiere April 13 with a PG-13 rating from the Motion Picture Association of America after over 500,000 people signed a petition on Change.org to lower it from R. The initial rating would have prevented children under 17, the film’s target audience, from seeing it. The new rating means the film can also be screened in schools.

dustin lance black’s prop 8 play premieres in los angeles

Last night in Los Angeles, a star-studded cast premiered a reading of Dustin Lance Black’s new play “8“. Actors including Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Martin Sheen, Jamie Lee Curtis and Jane Lynch performed the play, which brings to life the transcripts of Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the landmark federal trial that struck down California’s ban on same-sex marriage.

Though the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has already agreed that Prop 8 is unconstitutional, proponents of the marriage ban have requested an en banc hearing, basically meaning they want the case heard by a full panel of appellate judges. Since the decision is stayed during the appeals process, same-sex couples in California still do not enjoy the right to marry. It’s looking more and more likely that the case must ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

why progressives should root for a strong republican party

On the first ever episode of “Melissa Harris-Perry” this weekend, the Tulane professor and newly-minted MSNBC host made the progressive case for a strong, healthy Republican Party. Harris-Perry is concerned about the GOP’s current disarray. “We need a country where it is safe for your party to lose,” she said. “We have to know that the people in power will be reasonable and competent leaders and that our basic rights are not up for grabs every four years.”

While some say that the dirty and drawn-out Republican primary is emboldening Democrats and the president, Harris-Perry feels that the conservative alternative’s lurch to the right isn’t healthy for our nation. She says that President Obama’s record could be compared with a GOP platform from the 1990s.

In 2012, the fact that ideologue candidates like Rick Santorum are competitive in a national party’s presidential primary is troublesome to say the least. (Even Mitt Romney, whose record as governor of Massachusetts demonstrates his past moderate conservatism, has become unrecognizable in his desperation to appeal to the far right extremists in his party.)

If Obama were to lose the election this November, Americans could potentially be faced with a president who believes states should have the right to ban birth control, that only “radical feminists” would want to pursue work outside the home, and that monogamous gay relationships are comparable to polygamy and bestiality. Why can’t the opposition be an actual conservative, rather than a religious zealot who wants to strip rights away from large swaths of our citizenry?

It is my hope that Obama will be re-elected and the Democrats will gain a majority in Congress this year. If this pans out, I believe the GOP will be forced to do some much-needed soul-searching. It will be a prime moment for moderate Republicans to demand that their party return to a platform of principle and reason, not only for political viability, but for the sake of our country’s future.

On a side-note, I’m looking forward to watching Melissa Harris-Perry’s new show weekend mornings. It’s certainly refreshing to hear her academic outlook on partisan politics and current events. I’m confident we’ll see a more informed level of discourse on this program than most of the other options we’re offered presently. I also welcome the addition of Harris-Perry’s perspective to cable news. Thank you to MSNBC for amplifying a voice that we are eager to hear.