Republican leaders say they’re confident Texas is staying red.
It comes following Tuesday's election, specifically in Texas House District 118, where republican John Lujan defeated Frank Ramirez.
Meanwhile, voters were clear in many school districts asking for bond approval, rejecting most on the ballot.
UTSA’s chair of the Department of Political Science and Geography says state leaders were celebrating a GOP win in South Texas.
Governor Greg Abbott tweeted about Lujan’s victory saying “he won an open seat that had been held by a Democrat.”
Jon Taylor at UTSA said in response, “I would say slow your roll on the hyperbole and the over-analysis.”
Lujan, who won by 286 votes on Election Day, will have to re-run in a district that will have a different make-up next year due to the redistricting of legislative maps, which could lean in his favor.
RELATED: Republicans flip Texas House seat as Lujan defeats Ramirez in District 118 special election runoff
“A district that was roughly Biden plus 14 is only going to be about Biden plus three in November 2022, which means John Lujan has a better chance than we might think of re-election,” Taylor said.
HD 118 is a near-even split between Republicans and Democrats, according to Taylor. But he says this win may reinforce a narrative the GOP is making inroads in South Texas.
“That doesn’t mean that John Lujan is going to win re-election in November 2022, but this should be a cold bracing splash in the face to Texas Democrats that they need to work harder,” he added.
Political battles can often spill into schools.
Local districts saw mixed results.
A voter-approved tax rate election paying for teacher salaries and raises passed in Alamo Heights ISD and Comal ISD.
Bond elections failed in East Central ISD, Judson ISD and Southside ISD. Other area districts including Comal ISD had two of its four bond proposals pass, while two of three bond proposals passed for New Braunfels ISD.
Taylor explained why he thinks this panned out.
“Part of it might be just voter exhaustion with, among other things. Concerns over property tax increases, although at least one school district (Alamo Heights ISD) said we’re really not going to increase property taxes,” he says. "Others were concerned about spending in particular, given the state money and federal money from COVID-19 relief, the argument is that, is this the right time?”
After an exhausting year of Texas politics, the focus will soon shift to mid-term elections in 2022 for races including the governor, state attorney general and an election for HD 118.
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