TEXAS HOUSE
Republicans leading in many races, denying Democrats’ dream of controlling state House
Republicans all but certain to keep majority.
Republicans appeared all but certain on Tuesday to retain control of the Texas House, denying Democrats the dream of controlling the lower chamber for the first time in nearly two decades.
With early and some day-of voting reported in and around Houston and the Dallas-Fort Worth area, few Democrats looked poised to flip a Republican-held seat, according to county results. Democrats needed to flip nine seats to win a majority in the 150-member body.
In the northwest Houston suburbs, Republican Rep. Sam Harless was holding a significant lead over Natalie Hurtado, and Rep. Ed Thompson was up by a sizable margin over Democrat Travis Boldt. Lacey Hull held a lead over Democratic challenger Akilah Bacy in District 138, and Rep. Gina Calanni, D-Katy, was losing to Republican challenger Mike Schofield.
In Fort Bend, Rep. Gary Gates and Jacey Jetton, both Republicans, were leading. Rep. Sarah Davis was the sole Republican incumbent who appeared in danger of losing to Democratic challenger Ann Johnson.
“Texas DID stay Red,” Gov. Greg Abbott, the state’s most prominent Republican, tweeted shortly after 10 p.m. “Every statewide race and the Texas House and Senate remain Republican. God Bless Texas.”
With record turnouts and nearly 2million newly registered voters, the state had been projected to be a battleground, much of it fueled by demographic changes and growing antipathy for the explosive politics of the Trump administration. But partial voting totals showed Republicans likely rolling to a relatively easy night.
No prize had felt as within reach for Democrats in Texas this year as the state House, with millions of dollars pouring in from individual donors and outside groups, and political ads blanketing dozens of the key suburban battlegrounds.
The outpouring of Democratic support was both in spite and a result of the coronavirus pandemic, which upended campaigning and initially left Republican leaders on the defensive as infections mounted this summer and again in recent weeks. More than 18,000 Texans have now died from the virus, and nearly 900,000 have been infected by it.
Regaining control of the House was thought all but impossible a few years ago — so much so that Democrats failed to even field candidates inmany of the races now in play. But they made large gains in the 2018 midterms, flipping 12 seats, and zeroed in this year on nearly two dozen districts that former El Paso Congressman Beto O’Rourke had either carried or nearly carried in his bid to unseat Republican Sen. Ted Cruz.
Many of those districts, including eight in the greater Houston area, have grown explosively in recent years, and are home to the state’s most diverse communities, including Black, Latino and Asian Americans. They also include a huge swath of young voters, who tend to lean Democratic.
O’Rourke played a key role in attempting to mobilize that nascent support, helping to register 200,000 new voters and using his organization, Powered by People, to contact millions of
registered Democrats in the final stretch of the election.
But Republicans appeared able to blunt the resurgence by tying Democratic candidates to the most liberal proposals nationally, including universal health care, gun control and environmental regulations. As protests swelled this summer over police brutality, the state GOP championed its support for law enforcement and accused Democrats of ushering in riots.
Republicans have held a majority in the lower chamber since 2003, and control every other branch of state government. Retaking the House would have given Democrats a sliver of negotiating power as lawmakers return to Austin next year and begin the once-in-adecade task of redrawing congressional districts, following the results of the U.S. Census. The current map was drawn to yield Republican members.
If nothing else, Democrats hoped it could be a symbolic victory that inspired the next generation of candidates and investment in a state that has long been overlooked by the national party. A Democratic presidential ticket hasn’t won the state since 1976, and until last week, none had campaigned here during the general election in decades.
With a once-in-a-century health crisis surging this summer, many of the campaigns were forced to throw out their playbooks and reimagine howto connect with voters in the era of COVID-19.