Gonzales is the incumbent. The incumbent generally gets the votes from people in their party by default.
I'm well aware of this. For example, Governor Greg Abbot got ~70% of the vote in his last primary despite his wildly unpopular handling of covid, a big freeze, and several other issues (like participating in a witch hunt against AG Paxton, probably the most popular statewide elected official in Texas, and endorsing his opponent in the primary.)
If they vote, they will be voting for Herrera.
I think that "If" is a lot bigger than you're apparently making it out to be. I don't think the "Not Gonzales" voters are likely to flip to Gonzales, but that Herrera might be more unpalatable to the runoff voters than Gonzales. I don't know if you've ever watched any of Herrera's "edgier" content, but I expect Gonzales to be featuring lots of that stuff in some particularly vicious attack ads over the coming months.
I guarantee Gonzales is shitting his pants right now, because he knows all of this too.
I hope he is, but I don't see how the runoff is anything but an uphill battle for Herrera.
I'm well aware of this. For example, Governor Greg Abbot got ~70% of the vote in his last primary despite his wildly unpopular handling of covid, a big freeze, and several other issues (like participating in a witch hunt against AG Paxton, probably the most popular statewide elected official in Texas, and endorsing his opponent in the primary.)
I think that "If" is a lot bigger than you're apparently making it out to be. I don't think the "Not Gonzales" voters are likely to flip to Gonzales, but that Herrera might be more unpalatable to the runoff voters than Gonzales. I don't know if you've ever watched any of Herrera's "edgier" content, but I expect Gonzales to be featuring lots of that stuff in some particularly vicious attack ads over the coming months.
I hope he is, but I don't see how the runoff is anything but an uphill battle for Herrera.