Republicans scored major victories in Texas on election night, flipping appellate courts covering several of the state’s major population centers and winning key races in historically Democratic areas in South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley.
President Trump’s success in areas along the Texas-Mexico border has made national headlines. In Starr County, which has a Hispanic population of 97%, Trump won comfortably with 57.73%. In 2016, Trump earned just 18.94% of the vote in Starr County. In addition to Starr County, Trump carried other counties in the Rio Grande valley including Cameron, Hidalgo, and Willacy Counties.
Republican success in heavily Hispanic areas was not limited to the Presidential race, with Republicans flipping a State Senate seat and two State House seats.
In State Senate District 27, Republican Adam Hinojosa defeated Democrat State Senator Morgan LaMantia in a rematch of a race that Hinojosa narrowly lost two years ago. The district, which covers all of Bee, Cameron, Kenedy, Kleberg, San Patricio, and Willacy counties and portions of Hidalgo and Nueces counties, has a Hispanic population of 84.6%.
Republican Don McLaughlin, who once served as Mayor of Uvalde, defeated Democrat Cecilia Castellano by a 59.5%-40.5% margin to succeed retiring Democrat State Representative Tracy King in Texas House District 80. Covering a swath of South Texas that includes Atascosa, Dimmit, Frio, Uvalde, and Zavala counties in addition to a portion of Webb County, District 80 has a Hispanic population of 83.5%.
In the race to replace retiring Democratic State Representative Abel Herrero in Texas House District 34 in Nueces County, Republican Denise Villalobos defeated former Democratic State Representative Solomon Ortiz, Jr. Villalobos, an oil and gas engineer who serves on the Tuloso-Midway ISD school board, carried the district by nearly 11 points. Texas House District has a Hispanic population of 77.5%.
One of the organizations most active in working in laying the groundwork for Republican victories in South Texas and other predominantly Hispanic communities is the Coalition Por/For Texas, which is led by former Republican Party of Texas Vice Chair Cat Parks.
In a statement released after the election, Parks remarked, “The results in Texas are nothing short of historic. South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley just threw their blue jerseys into the fire. The Coalition Por/For Texas created a multi-layered statewide strategic operation that supported candidates from the top to the bottom of the ticket by collaborating with conservative organizations, elected officials, local parties, and candidates. Our message resonated; we welcome you to the Republican Party and thank you for voting for the future of our families.”
Parks added, “The last several cycles, Democrat Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa has labeled Republican gains across Texas as a fluke. We have created a lasting coalition that reflects the true priorities and voice of Texas Hispanics. We will continue prioritizing fighting for a better life for all Texans.”
Big changes are coming to the Texas judiciary, as Appellate Courts encompassing the Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and South Texas areas will all now have Republican majorities.
The Judicial Fairness PAC, a sister organization of Texans for Lawsuit Reform, spent over $17 million across Texas to aid Republican judicial candidates in the general election. In addition to Texans for Lawsuit Reform, key donors to the Judicial Fairness PAC included Elon Musk, Houston businessman Dick Weekley, Plano investor Kenneth Fisher, the Concord Fund, Las Vegas Sands, TRT Holdings, Inc., Trinity Equity Partners I LP, and Hillwood Development Corp.
Last month, The Texas Voice reported on the Judicial Fairness PAC’s crime-focused ad campaign which encouraged voters to defeat “soft-on-crime Democrat Judges.”
In a statement to The Texas Voice, the Judicial Fairness PAC hailed the results as a repudiation of Democrat judges jeopardized the safety and economic health of Texas.
“Texas voters strongly repudiated the Democrat judges who have made our state a haven for repeat violent criminals and job-killing nuclear verdicts. This judiciary was out of step with Texas values, threatening our economic strength and our safe communities. Last night’s election of 26 highly qualified, competent and fair Republicans to five intermediate appellate courts is a huge step toward regaining the trust of Texans, and the Judicial Fairness PAC is proud to have helped these judges take the bench.”
The well-funded ad campaign of the Stop Houston Murders PAC, which was largely bankrolled by the Judicial Fairness PAC, also resulted in Republicans winning ten countywide judicial races in Harris County.
The Harris County Republican Party pointed to the success of these ten countywide judicial candidates as evidence of the Party’s growing momentum.
“We are thrilled by the Republican wins in Harris County, which speak volumes about the strength and resilience of our message. This election already marks a significant achievement for our party. Our competitive edge was evident throughout, our message resonates deeply with voters across Harris County. Harris County Republicans are only getting more competitive. Last cycle we won four countywide seats, this time we won ten. These results confirm what we’ve known for a long time: Harris County is the largest swing county in the country,” said the Harris County Republican Party.
Republicans in Harris County significantly outperformed projections reflected in a poll conducted prior to the election by the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston.
While the Hobby School projected Kamala Harris to defeat Donald Trump by a 13-point margin in Harris County, Harris’ actual margin of victory in the county was just 5 points. Down-ballot candidates also performed better than expected. While the Hobby School poll showed Democrat Sean Teare with a 14 point lead in the race for Harris County District Attorney, Teare only prevailed over Republican Dan Simons by less than 2 points.
