Valdez's 13-point election loss to incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott, the largest for any statewide candidate, was the result of "an ill-prepared candidate with a tenuous grasp of the issues," Texas Monthly says in its write-up. Specifically, the magazine calls out Valdez, the nation's first lesbian Latina sheriff, for failing to win the endorsements of JOLT, a get-out-the-Latino-vote organization, and the Houston GLBT Political Caucus.

Proving that she's about as likely to win anything in 2019 as she was in 2018, Valdez lost out on the big booby prize to Austin-based conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and disgraced former Houston-area U.S. Rep. Steve Stockman.