Sugar Land, TX — Daily Kos Elections joins both Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball in identifying TX-22 as one of the top tossup races in the country. 

The forecasters cite Republicans’ increased toxicity to surban voters and Kulkarni’s strength as a candidate in explaining the shift. 

As the most diverse district in the country, TX-22 has been trending blue for years, and now with a candidate like Kulkarni who is able to both turn out previously un-engaged communities and appeal to moderate voters abandoned by an increasingly extreme Republican Party, this district is in prime position to flip in Democrats’ favor.

For more from Daily Kos on the subject, see below:

“This historically red open seat in Houston’s southern suburbs has been trending sharply to the left during the Trump era, and Trump’s weak position in Texas means that this shift is likely to continue this fall.

“Team Blue is fielding a strong candidate in Sri Preston Kulkarni, who ended June with a hefty $1.2 million on-hand, while Republican Troy Nehls has struggled with fundraising and found himself almost penniless after a costly runoff. Still, Nehls’ position as sheriff of Fort Bend County, which makes up over 60% of this district, does give him a solid geographic base that could help him run ahead of Trump—something he’ll almost certainly need to do to win.”