The results of the Texas primary elections might have given the progressive cause to be optimistic about their prospects in November. At least, this is what several left-leaning news outlets have suggested after Tuesday’s elections. However, a closer look at the situation reveals the hard left may not want to start celebrating just yet.

Progressives managed to eke out a couple of critical victories in the primary elections. These are individuals who are backed by the far-left wing of the Democratic Party. Politico reported:

The chance for progressives to set the tone for this year’s primaries led many of the biggest figures on the left — such as Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) — to throw their weight behind liberal candidates in Texas. Progressive organizations like Justice Democrats, Indivisible and the Working Families Party also invested in the primaries.

For starters, Jessica Cisneros, a progressive Democrat seeking to unseat moderate Henry Cuellar will be facing him in a runoff election in May, after neither candidate managed to secure 50 percent of the vote on Tuesday. Her chances of defeating Cuellar are favorable, but there are still questions about her ability to defeat a Republican opponent in November.

Cuellar is one of a few conservative Democrats in Congress. He has repeatedly taken the Biden administration to task for its failure to address the migrant crisis at the southern border. He has also voted against abortion rights legislation. Given that he has held his seat for nine terms, it seems clear his district has a distinctly conservative streak that could cause problems for Cisneros, if she were to win the nomination.

Reuters reported:

The winner of the Cuellar-Cisneros runoff will then face Cassy Garcia, who won the Republican primary and is sure to cast her rival as being too liberal for the district that shares a long boundary with Mexico and has been seeing record numbers of illegal border crossings by immigrants.

Former Austin City Council member Greg Casar also won his Democratic primary election for the 35^th congressional district, which covers parts of Austin and San Antonio. He defeated three other Democratic challengers and will face a Republican in November.

Progressives are hoping that Texas’ primary elections are a sign that the far-left will be competitive in the upcoming midterm elections. From Reuters:

Progressives hope that Cisneros’ performance in Texas, which is the first state to hold a primary contest this election cycle, will reverberate nationally.

“Coming out of the gate, Texas is going to set the tone for progressive wins across the nation,” Adrienne Bell, executive director of progressive political action committee Brand New Congress, said in a telephone interview before Tuesday’s primary.

There is also the fact that Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke, who pretends to be a Latino, managed to avoid a runoff election, defeating his closest Democratic challenger by 85 points. He will go on to challenge incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott in November.

However, progressive might be a bit hasty in assuming these victories are indicative of an overall trend occurring in the United States. For starters, Cuellar failing to avoid a runoff might not be the win progressives think it is. The lawmaker has other issues that could have contributed to this outcome.

In January, the FBI raided the lawmaker’s home, making off with computers and other electronic devices.

The Texas Tribune reported:

Cuellar has not been charged with a crime. But even before the damning optics of the federal raid, Cuellar was the top primary target this year among progressive groups playing in House races.

While the Bureau has not publicly given a reason for raiding Cuellar’s home, there can be no doubt that this development hurt him politically. Indeed, some have questioned the timing of the raid, which occurred less than two months before the primary elections. The fact that he is being forced into a runoff might be more because of the FBI raid than the possibility that his district is warming up to progressivism.

Then, there is O’Rourke, who easily secured his party’s nomination for Texas governor. But again, there is likely another explanation for this outcome. What the Irishman-pretending-to-be-Latino has that his opponents did not is name recognition. Love him or hate him, people know who Beto O’Rourke is.

He has enjoyed a national platform since he unsuccessfully challenged Sen. Ted Cruz for his Senate seat. O’Rourke received a huge amount of donations from outside of the state and will likely do so again. His nomination is more because he is a known quantity than because he is a progressive. Indeed, he recently walked back his previous comments about seizing AR-15s and other firearms after it became clear his anti-gun stance would not go over well in the Lone Star State.

Greg Casar’s win is none too surprising given the fact that he comes from a deep blue district. However, it will be the election in November that will determine whether voters want to be represented by a far-leftist.

Of course, this does not mean it would be wise to count progressives out in Texas or any other state. While they have taken plenty of losses, they are not giving up and will continue trudging forward until they eventually get what they want. The far-left faction is playing the long game, which means they are willing to continue taking losses as long as they can pull off some wins here and there. The GOP better have an answer for this; otherwise, it might be too late when they finally do wise up.