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What do 2016 and the midterms have in common? Not as much as many Republicans had hoped, as a vibe-fueled "red wave" Democrats feared and Republicans cheered came crashing on the shores of reality Tuesday – leaving not much more than a red ripple as far as Texas goes.
The GOP, which looked to build on gains among Hispanic voters in 2020, didn't get the results they forecast: while Texas Republicans
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scored a gain in District 15 with Monica De La Cruz defeating Democratic opponent Michelle Vallejo, two other Rio Grande Valley seats stayed Democratic.
Statewide, Republicans performed as expected,
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sweeping the slate to victories – but
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reading the numbers , you'd be hard-pressed to tease out any significant shifts.
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Gov. Greg Abbott beat Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke by over 10 points. (Deep blue pockets in large urban areas still remain and may be growing, with Bexar, Harris, Travis and Dallas counties voting for O'Rourke.)
Many in his hometown of El Paso saw Beto’s campaign trek across Texas as way to share a more complete picture of the border, which is often portrayed as a place of crisis and chaos, rather than the vibrant region millions of Texans call home, as well as the gateway to booming trade with Mexico and an economic engine for decades.
The long-standing challenge of getting more young Texans to the polls for the midterms was evident amid low voter turnout. After so much talk of how issues such as abortion, gun safety, border security and the economy had galvanized the electorate, fewer Texans were inspired to cast ballots than in any election cycle since 2014.
One bright spot this election season: Statewide candidates paid much more attention to Latino voters – especially those aforementioned Rio Grande Valley voters. In the past, critics said some candidates wrote off the region as deeply Democratic – and others took those voters for granted.
Perhaps there was one other big winner, come to think of it: The election process itself. Fears about the presence of partisan political observers and threats of intimidation did not pan out. With the exception of a hiccup here and there, with the delayed opening of some polling places in Harris and Bell counties, Election Day went very much like election days are supposed to – which is to say, with little drama. We'll be exploring the impact of the midterms and more in coming days, and you can keep up with all of that at
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texastandard.org .
What do you think? Let us know: reach out through
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- David Brown and Angela Kocherga
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Texas GOP continues statewide election sweep as Abbott, Patrick and Paxton win reelection
The offices of governor, attorney general and lieutenant governor will remain in conservative hands as Texas Democrats continue a near-three-decade losing streak in statewide contests.
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Harris County keeps polls open until 8 p.m.; ballots cast in final hour put aside for now
The county kept polls open an extra hour after multiple sites had delayed openings. But the Texas Supreme Court says any ballots cast by people who showed up after 7 p.m. should be kept separate for now.
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UT aerospace researcher recognized for pioneering work in space junk
Moriba Jah received a MacArthur Fellowship for his research into keeping space cleaner.
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A
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‘Tacos of Texas’ new season highlights the under-celebrated voices of the culinary world
The podcast highlights some under-celebrated voices left out of celebrity chef culture – migrant farmworkers, immigrant and indigenous women, and family members that pass recipes down for generations.
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Israel and Watson will head to a December runoff in the race to elect Austin's next mayor
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(KUT Austin)
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Republicans Wesley Hunt, Morgan Luttrell elected as Houston’s newest members of Congress
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(Houston Public Media)
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Henry Cuellar wins his 10th term representing Texas' 28th Congressional District
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(Texas Public Radio)
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Jasmine Crockett succeeds Eddie Bernice Johnson in Dallas congressional race
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(KERA News)
The Talk of Texas is running down the state’s entire 254 counties – Anderson to Zavala – with points of interest pulled from the Texas Standard archives.
Is there a can't-miss attraction in your area?
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Drop us a line and let us know.
Cameron County
Founded: 1848
County seat: Brownsville
Population: 421,017
Get out the vote: As luck would have it, this week’s stop on the tour is Cameron – one of the predominantly Latino border counties courted by Republicans for electoral gain. All of Cameron County is included in Texas 34th Congressional District, currently represented by Republican Rep. Mayra Flores. We reported on Flores’ win this summer as she
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flipped the seat red in a special election. But her tenure in Congress will be a short one; last night, Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (who currently serves in a neighboring district) brought the 34th
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back into the Democratic column .
Star wars: The political battle in Cameron County is illustrative of other changes affecting the area. Elon Musk’s SpaceX has set up shop in county seat Brownsville, launching debate over its impact on the
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city’s environment and
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its culture . As our commentator W.F. Strong notes, Musk is far from the first outsider to set up shop
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along Boca Chica Beach with plans to change the future of transportation.
One last thing: Need a shirt? Until recently you would’ve had to travel down to Brownsville to pick up a tee from
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Latina empowerment brand JZD – but now you can find their wares in Targets across the country.
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- Elizabeth Farfán-Santos
The University of Houston professor shines a light on motherhood under difficult circumstances in her new book “Undocumented Motherhood: Conversations on Love, Trauma, and Border Crossing.”
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Listen here.
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