State Rep. Julie Johnson won election to a Dallas-based US House seat on Tuesday, becoming the first LGBTQ+ member of Congress from a state in the South. (Screen capture via Fox 4)
A few bright spots — a queer woman is going to Congress and weed gets decriminalized in Dallas — offered encouragement to Democrats hoping to break through on Election Day.
If you’re looking to blunt the results of a disappointing election for Democrats in Texas, look to Dallas. That’s where voters approved a proposition decriminalizing weed.
Voters there also are sending the first openly LGBTQ+ person from the South to Congress in Julie Johnson. The former state lawmaker won a Dallas-area seat in the US House on Tuesday, easily beating Republican challenger Darrell Day 61% to 36%, according to unofficial results.
Otherwise across Texas, Republicans outperformed polls, strengthened their grip on Tarrant County, boosted their majority in the Texas House, and snuffed out the hopes — again — of Democrats who predicted the state would show signs of turning politically blue.
“Even though we haven’t won here in Texas in some time, it took courage to believe in this election and to put everything you had into it, and it’s gonna take courage to face whatever comes tomorrow and the day after,” US Rep. Colin Allred said on Tuesday as he conceded his race against Sen. Ted Cruz.
“But this country is worth fighting for. This state is worth fighting for. We are a great country, nobody needs to make us great again,” Allred added.
Gov. Greg Abbott, expected to take a victory lap during a Wednesday press conference in Tyler, was more blunt in a statement on Tuesday night: “Texans sent a clear message,” he said, according to the Texas Tribune.
More than 11.3 million Texans cast a ballot in the election, including more than 9 million who voted early or by mail, according to the Texas Secretary of State’s office.
Wendy Davis, a former state lawmaker who lost to Abbott in the 2014 governor’s race, urged Democrats to keep fighting.
“This has been one of the most beautiful campaigns I’ve ever been involved in,” Davis said at Allred’s event on Tuesday.
“It makes me so proud to be a part of this state, a part of this community, to be a part of the ‘we don’t quit.’ We don’t quit in this state, we’re never going to quit until we believe that every person has the opportunity to realize their dreams no matter who they are or where they come from. We are fighting for an equal and just world,” she added.
US Rep. Colin Allred offered words of encouragement to supporters despite losing his US Senate race. (Photo by Matt Hennie)
Ted Cruz wins third term in US Senate
Johnson will take over the seat in Texas’ 32nd congressional district from Allred, who’s competitive challenge to unseat Cruz fell short. Cruz won the race 53% to 44%, according to unofficial results.
Allred hoped to become the first Democrat in 30 years to win statewide in Texas. He outperformed Vice President Kamala Harris in the state, receiving 4.99 million votes to Harris’ 4.79 million.
Allred ran a campaign focused on holding Cruz accountable for his views on reproductive rights, his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, and his work blocking a bipartisan border bill earlier this year. Allred also repeatedly criticized Cruz for heading to Cancún during Winter Storm Uri in 2021, saying the incumbent cared more about building a national political profile than Texas residents.
“I especially want to thank all the brave Texas women who have come forward and told their stories. Amanda Zurawski, Kate Cox, Lauren Miller, Dr. Austin Dennard. There are so many brave Texas women,” Allred said Tuesday. “We will never stop fighting to overturn this abortion ban here in Texas.”
Allred said he was inspired to give up his safe seat in the US House after the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021.
“It shouldn’t be remarkable to have to admit defeat, but in today’s politics it’s becoming rarer and rarer. I was inspired to run after I saw what happened on Jan. 6, and what happens when people lie about our free and fair elections. You can’t just be a patriot when your side wins, so tonight, we didn’t win. But we’ll continue to be patriots,” he said.
Democrat Averie Bishop (right) lost to Rep. Angie Chen Button. (Photos courtesy Bishop and Button campaigns)
Texas House District 112
In a North Dallas race for the District 112 seat, Averie Bishop hoped to become the first Filipino American in the Texas House by unseating Republican Rep. Angie Chen Button. But Button easily won 54% to 46%, according to unofficial results.
Bishop — a 28-year-old former Miss Texas and TikTok influencer — said it took her three times before winning the crown. The state House race was her first run for elected office.
“I didn’t let every single failure or loss define my potential to do good and serve the state of Texas,” Bishop said late Tuesday. “You have to trust that our communities will show up when the time is right. It really does take the right timing, and dare I say luck, to win these races — and money of course.”
“I think we did an incredible job. We raised quite a bit of money, we challenged the status quo. Win or lose, the legacy I will be leaving behind is the fact that democracy needs to be built, it’s not promised. And it’s going to take young people like me in the state of Texas to step up and serve,” she added.
State Rep. Mihaela Plesa defeated a Republican challenger who supported school vouchers. (Photo by Joi Louviere)
Texas House District 70
In a bright spot for Democrats, Rep. Mihaela Plesa held her Texas House seat in a proxy fight over Abbott’s efforts to bring school vouchers to the state. She beat Republican Steve Kinard 52% to 48%.
Plesa was the first Democrat elected to the state House from Collin County in nearly three decades when she won in 2022 by 859 votes.
Kinard had the backing of Abbott thanks to his support of school vouchers. Plesa, who is a graduate of Plano ISD, ran her campaign on increasing state funding for education.
Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn won a third term on Tuesday. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Incumbent wins Tarrant County Sheriff
Democrats hoped to break through in Tarrant County, the nation’s last large county run by Republicans. But two-term incumbent Sheriff Bill Waybourn defeated Patrick Moses 54% to 46%.
Waybourn has ties to far-right law enforcement, election deniers, and Christian nationalism, according to the Texas Tribune.
Waybourn and Moses ran on starkly different platforms, with the Republican incumbent running on issues like election fraud and immigration, while the Democratic challenger has said that those topics aren’t relevant to the sheriff’s work.
“The work of transforming the culture and ensuring that the right people are in place, providing leadership for detention, providing leadership for every part of the sheriff’s office — I’m prepared for that from Day 1,” Moses told KERA ahead of the election.
Elsewhere, former state Rep. Matt Krause, a conservative Republican and part of the far-right Christian legal movement, won his race for commissioners court, cementing a GOP majority on the board.
A participant in the 11th Annual Texas Marijuana March and Freedom Festival on Oct. 5 in Fort Worth. (Photo by Katie Serrano)
Mixed bag of propositions in Dallas
Voters in Dallas faced 18 propositions on their ballot, from decriminalizing weed to boosting the ranks of the Dallas Police Department.
Proposition R — the Dallas Freedom Act — cruised to an easy victory, 67% to 33%, according to unofficial results. The measure prohibits the Dallas Police Department from charging people with misdemeanor possession of marijuana. It also stops police from considering the odor of marijuana as probable cause for search or seizure, and bans the use of city funds for THC testing unless it’s part of a felony case.
“The Dallas Freedom Act is our largest campaign yet. Its passing is significant proof that Texas is ready for statewide marijuana reform,” said Catina Voellinger, executive director of Ground Game Texas, the grassroots organization that gathered over 50,000 signatures from Dallas residents to get the measure on the ballot.
Now, the group will focus on ensuring the proposition takes effect, Voellinger said.
“As we’ve seen in the other cities where we’ve passed marijuana decriminalization policies, at least half the battle is making sure local governments follow through in enacting the will of the people by implementing the policies, as well as defending that implementation from baseless attacks by Attorney General Ken Paxton,” she said.
Paxton has sued to stop the five cities — Austin, San Marcos, Killeen, Elgin, and Denton — that decriminalized pot in 2022. He lost. Paxton sued again, this time trying to block the sale of the intoxicating hemp products. A fresh round of briefs on the case are due to the Texas Supreme Court on Nov. 12.
Voters delivered mixed results on a trio of propositions pushed by conservatives that could impact policing and how the city is governed. Dallas HERO, the nonprofit group that pushed for the propositions, is led by billionaire hotelier and Donald Trump donor Monty Bennet, and has the backing of the Dallas GOP. Current and former elected officials voiced concern about how the measures could impact the city budget and operations.
Proposition S forces the city to give up its governmental immunity by allowing residents to sue any city employee if they believe they’re not abiding by an ordinance, charter code, or any law in Texas. The measure passed 55% to 45%, according to unofficial results.
Proposition T requires the city to conduct an annual community satisfaction survey of at least 1,400 Dallas residents that focuses on things like crime, homelessness, and litter. The survey results determine whether the city manager receives a performance-based pay raise or will be fired. The measure failed 55% to 45%, according to unofficial results.
Proposition U forces Dallas police to maintain a force of at least 4,000 officers — nearly 1,000 more than they currently have — and increase starting pay for city cops. It will also set aside at least 50% of new revenue — sourced from things like asset forfeiture revenue, property taxes, and open records fees — each year to fund the city’s pension fund for police and firefighters. The measure passed 51% to 49%, according to unofficial results.
Other Texas races of note
Reproductive rights supporters targeted three GOP incumbents on the Texas Supreme Court, hoping the court’s decisions on abortion rights would backfire. Yet all three — John Devine, Jane Bland, and Jimmy Blacklock — beat their Democrat challengers by double-digit margins. The court is the court of last resort in the state for civil matters.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state’s highest criminal court, meanwhile, will remain entirely Republican. Democrats challenging three Paxton-backed conservative candidates all lost.
Republicans also solidified their hold on the Texas Board of Education, with the party’s nominees winning four out of five contests. With the election results, the board consists of 10 Republicans and four Democrats, according to the Texas Tribune.
DFW Community Editor Joi Louviere and Political Correspondent Katie Serrano contributed to this story.
