Posted on 09/18/2018 8:47:08 PM PDT by yesthatjallen
A Republican candidate won an upset victory Tuesday night in the runoff for a Texas state Senate seat that had been held by Democrats for more than a decade.
Pete Flores (R), a conservative former leader of the state Parks and Wildlife Department’s law enforcement division, won a surprise victory over Democrat Pete Gallego.
The runoff election was held following the resignation of the seat's previous holder, state Sen. Carlos Uresti (D), after Uresti was found guilty of charges related to defrauding investors in an oil services company and sentenced to prison.
Uresti previously defeated Flores in 2016 by double digits. Flores won won in an eight-way special election encompassing both parties earlier this year, with Gallego trailing him by single digits.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) congratulated Flores on his victory in a statement. Republicans now control 21 of the state's 31 Senate seats.
“Pete’s strong law enforcement background will be invaluable to the Legislature as we work to combat human trafficking and provide greater protections for our peace officers,” Abbott said. “I look forward to working alongside him next session to build a brighter future for all Texans.”
Texas has been looked at by Democrats as a potential target for the party ahead of November's midterm elections, with several Texas Republicans in diverse districts seen as vulnerable to Democratic challenges.
Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D) has mounted a high-profile challenge against Sen. Ted Cruz (R) for the state's open Senate seat as Democrats attempt to retake both chambers of Congress in November. O'Rourke trailed Cruz by 9 points in a poll of likely voters released Tuesday.
Democrats need a net gain of 23 House seats and 2 U.S. Senate seats to retake both chambers in November.
Republican wins Texas special election, Hillary won district by 12...
Recent Quinnipiac poll has Ted Cruz +9.
I think if people dig into the numbers....black voters that came out....by a one-in-three situation...voted GOP. If true, that’s a serious shock-wave building up. Same story for Latino voters as well, I’ll predict.
1) This gives the GOP a supermajority in the State Senate for the first time in state history !!!
2) This district is only 24% White !!!
Nice.
Flipping a seat Dems held for 139 years is even better news....... b/c Obama’s dream was to turn Texas blue.
Wow.
great, but don’t let complacency set in. redouble your efforts with each contest.
Here is the write-up from TSRA-
Dear TSRA Members, Family and Friends:
Congratulations
State Senator-elect Pete Flores (R)
SD 19
Tonight as the Polls closed Governor Abbott was one of the first to congratulate Pete Flores (R-Pleasanton) after Flores won the run-off election by over 2,000 votes to win State Senate District 19, historically dominated by Democrats from Bexar County. The district is made up of a total of 20 counties and runs from Bexar Co. to the border.
Election Night Returns
The run-off election followed a July special election called by Governor Abbott to fill the seat vacated by Senator Carlos Uresti convicted of fraud.
San Antonio press predicted the win to be a slam-dunk for Democrats and the only question was which one. Guiterrez or Gallego, both with name recognition and no one paid much attention to Pete Flores the Republican and retired game warden.
The press debate was over whether the winner would be Pete Gallego, a former Texas House member and recent Congressman or would it be Roland Gutierrez, lawyer from San Antonio. Both Ds had name recognition and both were well funded.
The predictions were based on voting history plus media marketing and all predicted Texas would be swept by a Blue Wave.
On Special Election Day in July, Pete Flores came in first with Pete Gallego (D-San Antonio) trailing in second place.
Election Day for the run-off was today, Sept. 18th
SD 19: Atascosa (98%), Bexar (29%), Brewster. Crockett, Dimmit, Edwards, Frio, Kinney, Maverick, Medina, Pecos, Real, Reeves, Terrell, Uvalde, Val Verde, Zavala counties. TSRA members, you did not let Bexar Co. control the district. You stepped up and you worked.
Now we turn to the General Election and Keep the Drive Alive!
Be certain you’re registered to vote.
Remember to Keep the Faith!
Sincerely
Alice Tripp
Legislative Director
TSRA-PAC
www.tsra.com
www.tsrapac.com
#WalkAway
I wonder how long it will take that idiot Alyssa Milano to claim the Russians hacked the election?
Thought I read that Flores is the first Hispanic GOP Senator in the history of Texas. If true, another reason it’s a historic GOP victory.
Amen. With the Lords help and a continued energized base there will not be a blue wave or a red wave in november. There will be a trump wave where we deplorables finish the 2016 revolution. Both the red and blue elites should be scared tonight. We are not afraid, we are not going away, we are diverse and we are voting. And brennan you will be the first to take a perp walk you traitorous bum.
https://enrpages.sos.state.tx.us/public/sep18_332_race0.htm
It was the smaller rural counties that won the race for Flores. Gallego took Bexar (San Antonio), Val Verde (Del Rio), and Maverick (Eagle Pass) counties.
Blue Wave? TX GOP picked up another Rat district and added to its super-majority.
Thjngs are looking up for November.
Correction to my earlier post:
The threshold for a supermajority was reduced from 21 to 19 back in 2015. So the GOP already had a supermajority as of that time.
But it is still true that the GOP as of tonight has 21 seats for the first time in state history!
Winning in a heavily Hispanic border district - Rats calculated that stories about Trump separating illegal alien childrun would have the desired effect.
That not only flopped, it apparently backfired. If minority voters are heading for the exits, what’s left? Enough to finish off the Rat party.
Its already lost white voters and it can’t afford to lose more but it did just that by insulting their intelligence and taking them for granted.
Blue Wave, indeed.
Scroll to Flores victory speech
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