Cloud secures lopsided victory in Texas Republican primary for Congressional District 27

Congressman Michael Cloud nailed down a decisive victory in Tuesday's Republican primary, putting him in a strong position heading into the general elections as he seeks a third full term in Congressional District 27.

Cloud, a small businessman from Victoria who won the 2018 special election to replace scandal-prone Blake Farenthold, piled up 72.5% of the vote, unofficial returns showed Tuesday night. His nearest challenger, former Jackson County Sheriff A.J. Lauderback, claimed 12% and three other challengers were held to single digits.

On the Democratic side, former television weather forecaster Maclovio Perez was the outright winner with more than 59% of the vote against two rivals.

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The GOP challengers in the race sought to portray the incumbent as something less than a robust Texas conservative. But Cloud was able to blunt that criticism by touting the full-throated support he enjoyed from both former President Donald Trump and Texas' junior U.S. senator, Ted Cruz.

Cloud called his victory both gratifying and challenging, given the issues facing the country.

"We are in such a critical time in our nation and facing multiple crises on multiple multiple fronts right now," Cloud said in an interview. "We still have to secure our border and we have massive inflation that's affecting our families."

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In an email before Election Day, Perez said he favors securing the southern border but said he would work "to bring some order to a chaotic system." He also said consideration must be given to the children who were brought into the country by undocumented adults.

"They were brought here by decisions of their parents, as minors," he said. "They likely did not know they were crossing the border. After being raised here and being schooled here, for them to NOT have such a path puts them in limbo with no way to participate in the workforce and become a tax paying citizen."

Cloud and Perez now advance to the general election in November. The newly redrawn 27th congressional district, which stretches east from near Austin to the Coastal Bend, was won by Trump by nearly 23 percentage points over Democrat Joe Biden in 2020.

John C. Moritz covers Texas government and politics for the USA Today Network in Austin. Contact him at jmoritz@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @JohnnieMo.

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Michael Cloud wins primary nomination for Congressional District 27