Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and Rep. Will Hurd (R-Tex.) were not on the ballot Tuesday, but they felt like winners. In an upset that rattled Texas Democrats, Republicans won a state senate seat that had voted reliably Democratic since the 19th century. In the final ballot test ahead of the midterm elections, there was no “blue wave” in sight — in other words, the outcome that Cruz and Hurd are hoping for in November.
After a short campaign, Republican businessman Pete Flores defeated former Democratic congressman Pete Gallego in Texas’s 19th state senate district, which stretches from San Antonio to Big Bend National Park. Flores won by nearly 6 points — a major reversal of fortune for Democrats, who had regularly carried the district, who beat Flores soundly here in 2016, and who won 59 percent of the vote in a July jungle primary.
Democrats, who have been sounding alarms all year about the difficulty of turning out Latino voters, felt their stomachs sink — especially because their candidate seemed to take the election for granted, failing to call in reinforcements.
The Washington Post – September 20, 2018
