Kamala Harris Visits Beto O'Rourke's, Julián Castro's Texas Home Turf Seeking Presidential Support

Texas leaders like to poach companies from California; now presidential contender Kamala Harris is looking to pluck delegates--and money-- from the Lone Star State, where Beto O'Rourke and Julián Castro are the favorite sons.On Friday the senator from California will be in Grapevine for a "conversation" with Tarrant County Democrats led by the group's chairwoman, Deborah Peoples.The event is part of Harris' two-day swing through Texas. On Saturday she's holding a rally at Texas Southern University, a historically black college in Houston. Harris' raid on her rival's territory is indicative of the close, complex Democratic race for president, where the formula for delegate selection encourages competitive races across the country, even on the home turfs of rival Democrats. O'Rourke and Castro will get plenty of opportunities to retaliate, given that California, like Texas, holds its presidential primary on March 3. That Super Tuesday is when more than half of the delegates in play for the Democratic presidential nomination are at stake.Texas is the second prize in the March, Super Tuesday presidential primary. Though O'Rourke, the state's most popular Democrat, is expected to roll up big numbers in his home state, the proportional system in how 149 Texas "district delegates" will be awarded allows opportunities for Harris and other Democrats to come away with support. Texas has a total of 262 delegates at stake, according to a draft delegate selection plan that will be delivered to the Democratic National Committee."It's all going to be split up," said Appeals Court Judge Ken Molberg, a veteran of many presidential campaigns and a former member of the Texas Democratic Party's executive committee. "Numerous candidates can compete for Texas delegates."  Continue reading...