Texas Political Update November 4, 2021
Constitutional Amendment Election Texas voters took to the polls Tuesday to decide on eight proposed amendments to the state Constitution. These were passed as bills during this year’s legislative sessions but require voter approval. All eight propositions passed with at least 59%, with half receiving 80%-plus support.
HD 118 (San Antonio) Special Election Runoff Republican John Lujan won the special election runoff for Texas House District 118, flipping the Democratic-friendly seat in San Antonio. The victory by Lujan gives Republicans an early win in their drive to make new inroads into South Texas after President Joe Biden underperformed there last year. With all vote centers reporting, Lujan defeated Democrat Frank Ramirez 51.2% to 48.8%, according to unofficial results (5.924 to 5,638 votes). Lujan briefly held the seat in 2016, while Ramirez is a former staffer for the San Antonio City Council and at the Texas Legislature. Lujan will replace former state Rep. Leo Pacheco, D-San Antonio, who resigned earlier this year to teach at San Antonio College. The win was driven by a surge in Election Day votes… after losing the early vote by 2 percentage points, Lujan won the ballots cast on Election Day by 10 points. Lujan was the top finisher in the special election in late September, getting 42% of the vote, while Ramirez placed second with 20%. There were two other Democrats running, as well as one other Republican.
HD 79 (El Paso) Rep. Ordaz Perez vs. Rep. Fierro State Rep. Claudia Ordaz Perez announced Monday she is challenging a fellow El Paso Democrat, Rep. Art Fierro, instead of running for reelection against Rep. Lina Ortega, another El Pasoan who she was pitted against in redistricting. Under the map that Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law last week, Ordaz Perez is drawn into House District 77, the seat that Ortega, who is also a Democrat, has held since 2017. Rep. Fierro has announced he is running for reelection and told The Texas Tribune last week that he is “prepared to run a strong reelection campaign no matter who runs.” Ordaz Perez and Ortega were paired from the start of the redistricting process, a result of Republican map-drawing following the 2020 census. It showed El Paso grew slower than the rest of the state and could no longer claim five districts wholly contained within the county. Fierro has represented House District 79 since winning a special election in January 2019. Ordaz Perez is the newest member of the El Paso delegation after she won an open seat last year.
State Sen. Kel Seliger (R-Amarillo) retiring Amarillo state Sen. Kel Seliger has announced he will not seek reelection. He has represented SD 31, which covers the Panhandle, South Plains and the Permian Basin, since 2005. Prior to that, he served four terms as mayor of Amarillo.
State Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr. impending announcement? First elected to the Texas Senate in 1991, state Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr. (D-Brownsville) has scheduled a news conference for 9:00 a.m., Thursday, November 4th, in Harlingen. It’s widely anticipated that he may be announcing his retirement from elected office, but others have speculated he could be switching parties. We’ll stay tuned…
Beto O’Rourke for Governor? We’re hearing that former Congressman and U.S. Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke (D) is poised to announce his campaign for the democratic nomination for governor, either later this week or next. O’Rourke represented Texas’ 16th Congressional District in the U.S. Congress from 2013 to 2019. He then challenged and lost to Republican incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018 for U.S. Senate, and unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for U.S. President in the 2020 election.
Redistricting Court Challenges The Mexican-American Legislative Caucus (MALC) has challenged the new House map in state court, arguing that it violates the Texas Constitution. And Senator Beverly Powell (D-Burleson) and other plaintiffs have filed a challenge in Travis County against the redrawn SD 10 redistricting map.
