Trump Wins Texas as Cruz Sails by Dem
and GOP Has Shot to Flip House Seats

Capitol Inside
November 5, 2024

Republicans Donald Trump claimed another victory in Texas on Tuesday night when Ted Cruz captured a third U.S. Senate term in a state where the GOP had a chance to flip three Texas House seats and a congressional districts in contests on or near the border.

The Associated Press and CNN both declared Trump as the winner in the nation's largest state about an hour after the polls here closed on general election day. The former president led Democrat Kamala Harris here by nearly 14 points with 56 percent with three-fourths of the Texas vote counted. Trump's largest margin of victory in the Lone Star State until now had come in 2016 when he won here by 9 percentage points. President Joe Biden lost to Trump in Texas by less than 6 points in 2020.

Cruz had a lead over Democrat Colin Allred that appeared insurmountable at more than 9 points with 73 percent of the vote in the U.S. Senate race in the books. Cruz, who beat a Democratic foe by less than 3 points in 2018, led Allred by 4 points in the polling before Tuesday's election.

The Republicans in the most competitive Texas House contests seized early leads in a pair of border districts where Don McLaughlin of Uvalde and Robert Garza of Del Rio were up on Democrats Cecilia Castellano of Von Army and State Rep. Eddie Morales of Eagle Pass by 16 points and 8 points respectively shortly before 10 p.m.

Corpus Christi Republican Denise Villalobos led Democrat Solomon Ortiz Jr. by 10 points in an open race in Nueces County for a House seat that's Democrats have controlled throughout the past decade. GOP challenger Adam Hinojosa of Corpus Christi led Democratic State Senator Morgan LaMantia of Brownsville by 4 points in the only competitive race for the Legislature's upper chamber this year.

Republican Mayra Flores of Los Indios had a shot a significant upset with a lead of less than 1 point over Democratic U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez of Brownsville based on early voting. But Gonzalez surged late into the lead in Congressional District 34 where he was up by 4 on Flores late Tuesday night. GOP U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales of San Antonio and Democratic U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar of Laredo beat a pair of challengers in re-election races.

McLaughlin appeared to have a 50-50 chance of beating Democrat Cecilia Castellano in House District 80. But Garza and Villalobos ran as underdogs based on the voting histories of their respective districts. But the Republicans in the South Texas districts got a major boost from Trump at the top of the ticket - and Allred failed to be the seawall that down-ballot Democrats had envisioned before the vote in the second contest on the ballot here this fall.

GOP State Rep. John Lujan of San Antonio received 52 percent of the early vote in a fight with Democrat Kristian Carranza in House District 118 - the most vulnerable district that Democrats are defending on paper based on voting histories. Rookie Republican State Rep. Janie Lopez of San Benitos had a double-digit lead over Democratic foe Jonathan Gracia in a border-area districts that the Democrats had high hopes to flip this fall.

Republican Marc LaHood of San Antonio landed 52 percent of the early votes as well in neighboring House District 121 in a clash with Democrat Laurel Swift. The HD 121 race has been open since LaHood defeated State Rep. Steve Allison of San Antonio in the March primary election.

A pair of Dallas Republicans in potential swing districts - State Reps. Angie Chen Button and Morgan Meyer - claimed 59 percent and 54 percent of the early votes respectively in battles with Democratic challengers Averie Bishop and Elizabeth Ginsberg.

But rookie Democratic State Rep. Mihaela Plesa of Dallas was up on GOP challenger Steve Kinard by almost 4 points in House District 70 where GOP powers that be in Austin made a minimal attempt to flip the seat.

more to come ...