The key facts

  • Gina Ortiz Jones defeated Greg Abbott, who was running for a record fourth term
  • James Talarico became the first Democratic senator from Texas since 1993
  • Democrats won seven of the eight House districts announced by AP

Texas elects Democrats for the first time since the 1990s

Democrats, according to The National,have won the midterm elections in Texas, a state traditionally considered reliably Republican: they took the governor's office, a US Senate seat, and a majority of the House districts up for grabs.

Gubernatorial race

Gina Ortiz Jones is projected to win the governor's office — a legislator from Austin and a former school board president. She defeated incumbent Republican Governor Greg Abbott, who was running for a record fourth term. Ortiz Jones will become the first Latina woman to lead the state, the third female governor of Texas, and the first Democrat in the governor's mansion since 1995.

Senate and House of Representatives

In the race for the Senate seat, Democrat James Talarico, also a state legislator and a former teacher, defeated Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. He built his campaign on fighting political corruption and lowering costs for Americans, and will become the first Democratic senator from Texas since 1993. Of the eight House districts whose results the AP agency had announced by the time of publication, Democrats won seven; in several districts the victory was decisive: in the 29th district, Sylvia Garcia received about 81% of the vote according to AP, while in the 33rd district, which covers part of Dallas, Frederick Haynes III received about 83% against Republican Everett Jackson.

Context: the end of three decades of Republican dominance

The outlet notes that Texas remained a reliably Republican state for three decades, but amid growing disapproval of President Donald Trump, The National assessed that it could have shifted toward the Democrats in these elections. An additional factor in the campaign was the unusual decision by Republicans in the state legislature, who last year carried out an extraordinary mid-decade redistricting aimed at several seats held by Democrats. The election results mean that this redistricting did not prevent the Democrats from winning a majority of the districts up for grabs.

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