In Landslide Defeat, Dems Lose Race That Was Supposed To Start Turning Texas Blue
By Randy DeSoto
For years, Democrats have been talking about flipping Texas from red to blue, thereby thwarting Republican chances of winning the presidency or likely holding the House of Representatives ever again.
That prospect took a serious hit on Tuesday when Texans elected Republican businessman Gary Gates over Democratic educator Eliz Markowitz by an impressive 58 to 42 percent margin to become the next congressman for the 28th Congressional District.
The district runs from the suburbs of San Antonio south to the Mexican border.
The 30,000 ballots cast represented an unusually high voter turnout, easily surpassing the previous record of 22,000 for a special election, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Democrats nationally poured more than $1 million into the contest, according to CBS News, pinning their hopes on former Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s strong showing in the district during his 2018 U.S. Senate bid to unseat Republican Sen. Ted Cruz.
O’Rourke pulled within three points of Cruz in the 28th, which President Donald Trump won by 10 points in 2016.
Of course, midterm elections traditionally favor the political party that does not hold the White House.
O’Rourke, who campaigned for Markowitz, tweeted last week, “The first critical election of 2020 is happening now in Fort Bend, TX. Victory for Eliz Markowitz means we can win the state house and build the team to defeat Trump in Texas.”
The first critical election of 2020 is happening now in Fort Bend, TX. Victory for Eliz Markowitz means we can win the state house and build the team to defeat Trump in Texas. Join us to knock on doors this last weekend before Election Day. https://t.co/jRr8swVw1S
— Beto O’Rourke (@BetoORourke) January 24, 2020
Other former and current 2020 Democratic presidential candidates endorsed Markowitz, too, including former Vice President Joe Biden, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, who hails from San Antonio.
Their support did not change the outcome and maybe hurt the Democratic candidate’s chances.
Karl Rove, a former top campaign adviser to President George W. Bush, told The Associated Press that Democrats “made a big mistake by nationalizing” the contest.
full story at https://www.westernjournal.com/landslide-defeat-dems-lose-race-supposed-start-turning-texas-blue/