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Posted on 02/02/2026 10:35:29 AM PST by E. Pluribus Unum
Trump-backed candidate suffers major loss in district that had gone for the president
A state-level Democratic win in a Texas region that voted for President Trump by 17 points threatens to diminish the GOP’s hopes for the midterm elections, in what one of the state’s most powerful Republicans dubbed a “wake-up call.”
Democrat Taylor Rehmet defeated Republican Leigh Wambsganss on Saturday for a state Senate seat by 14 points, in a solidly red district that includes part of Fort Worth.
While Republicans including Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick had been sounding alarms about the North Texas race being too close for comfort in recent weeks, the 31-point-swing leftward was a surprise across the board. The loss is a “wake-up call for Republicans across Texas,” Patrick wrote on social media after the race. “Our voters cannot take anything for granted.”
It is a bad sign for Republicans hoping to maintain a Senate majority and an already-slim majority in the House, said Jason Villalba, a former GOP state lawmaker who now leads the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation, a research group.
“Whatever inroads the GOP was making recently among Latinos in Texas has begun to really revert back to what it was originally,” he said, pointing to Saturday’s shifts in Texas precincts with large Hispanic populations. “That will have implications around Texas and around the country.”
If given the reins in Congress, Democrats are expected to launch an aggressive series of investigations into actions taken by the Trump administration, as well as block further legislative initiatives from the White House. Democrats see this year as one of their best chances in a generation to win a statewide race in Texas, which they haven’t done since 1994. But they’ve overestimated their chances many times.
Wambsganss had the endorsement of Trump and other top-level Republicans. The...
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
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The people who sit on their ass are the problem. They stay home, while their side gets enough motivated to get out there. They realize that today every local and state election has national implications.
Texas and Oklahoma have some of the very worst voter turn out rates in the nation. Downright shameful and irresponsible. Nothing is a given and they seem to think the outcome they desire will carry ont he backs of others or something.
This was a state senate race.
To what extent does the area of voters for this race equal any particular US House district? They are typically not the same.
What it shows is the rats have never been this motivated. Every filthy rat is going to turn out this November.
Nah, I have been looking at the district map.
It is NOT an overwhelming GOP area. Reporters are doing their usual poor job and declaring the district to be the same as House districts. It’s not.
So unless the Dem can hold on to that seat in November, this special election is meaningless.
Let the Dems keep the government shutdown. Republicans must win this.
Conservatives need to understand that ALL elections are meaningful. Trust me, the Dems think so.
Crucial to an America First agenda is focusing on election integrity and winning elections here at home. As opposed to bombing Iran and regime change in Venezuela.
Wrong. The issue is the GOP is not giving MAGA anything to vote for. Trump is doing it all while the congress does nothing.
It doesn’t seem like the rats are THAT motivated. More like our side is a bunch of lazy slobs.
Thanks for the clarification.
Off season elections usually have low turnout, so if you don’t have to harvest a whole lot of ballots to win.
Sounds like a bunch of Dark Red MAGA Texans flipped to bright, cowardly yellow.
The weather was bad, it was in a Saturday, there was no publicity, the Republicans did not spend enough money and there were few major endorsements.
Those reporting on the right on it being a “wake up call” were not reporting on the election itself prior to the election. Not the talk radio circuit, the conservative blogosphere / social media. No one. The Democrats / Left don’t have that problem.
It is way past time to get it together. We used to have it together on things like this. I sound like a broken record on this, but I remember us *all* being glued to local races - nationwide. I’ll never forget the names Prosser and Kloppenburg from the Wisconsin Supreme Court race - don’t even have to look it up. Conservatives nationwide were glued to that race. The conservative won, despite the massive push by the Left to take the seat. Just one example. Turnout was pushed - everyone knew about these “small” races. The last time there was a Wisconsin Supreme Court race? Crickets. No one talking about it. The Leftist judge won. Same thing with even state legislative races with special elections - we are glued in. Glued in to individual House races. etc. Now? Virtually nothing...maybe the day of or a few days before a few mentions - but no mobilization, no real attention. Then we lose and are like “oh, wow, how could that happen?”
Our base cannot continue to sit on their hands and keep their wallets closed as they have in recent years and our conservative media cannot continue ignore covering upcoming elections like they have in recent years. What happened? Why did political junkies suddenly stop caring about...politics/elections? Make it make sense.
Our side has to stop giving away the country voluntarily.
Agreed. This is our fault. Conservative voters need to always, every single election, show up and vote. No excuses!
“Wrong. The issue is the GOP is not giving MAGA anything to vote for. Trump is doing it all while the congress does nothing.”
Hard to be excited about a Congress that has really not moved at all to assist the public. Trump has moved, but Congress has done nothing. The GOP leadership in Congress has been abysmal at bringing pro-American legislation or actions.
I call it “Political White Flight”.
Same script from you people no matter what happens or doesn’t happen.
“Stay home and give the country away voluntarily to the Left”
Meanwhile, here’s what the reality actually is: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/11/26/texas-laws-effective-december-january/
And yes, the policies of a large and influential state like Texas does have a national effect. This was a Texas legislative race you are commenting about on this thread.
But if you are going to talk about the Federal level:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/07/president-trumps-one-big-beautiful-bill-is-now-the-law/
Today, President Donald J. Trump officially signed The One Big Beautiful Bill into law — a once-in-a-generation piece of legislation that makes good on his campaign promises and puts America First.
Here’s what this means for everyday Americans:
The largest tax cut in history for middle- and working-class Americans
According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, the tax bill will most benefit workers and families making less than $50,000 per year.
Bigger paychecks of $10,000+ more in annual take-home pay for families.
NO tax on Tips.
NO tax on Overtime.
NO tax on Social Security.
A $12.5 billion modernization of our air traffic control system.
Permanently increasing the Child Tax Credit for more than 40 million families.
Permanently securing our borders by finishing the border wall and hiring thousands of new ICE officers and Border Patrol agents.
Driving down energy costs with a massive expansion of domestic oil and gas production capacity.
A tax deduction on Made in America auto loan interest.
Protection for two million family farms from punitive double taxation.
Creating Trump Accounts for every American newborn.
Restoring fiscal sanity by cutting $1.5 trillion in spending.
Strengthening Medicaid by eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse and blocking illegal immigrants from receiving Medicaid.
Funding the Golden Dome missile defense system to confront 21st century threats.
Modernizing our military to ensure it has the resources to be a ready, lethal fighting force after four years of Biden-era weakness.
https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/01/29/president-trump-signs-laken-riley-act-law
President Trump Signs the Laken Riley Act into Law
More than 20K criminal illegal migrants arrested since passage of Laken Riley Act
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-signs-rescissions-package-foreign-aid-npr-pbs-funding/
President Trump signed legislation to claw back $9 billion in foreign aid and public broadcasting funding, the first time in decades that Congress has approved a president’s request ...
Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he would press to restore funding cut by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and even add to the original amounts.
Schumer made the comments when he was asked Thursday if he would work to replenish funding for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) at a forum held by the Center for American Progress.
“If you look at the budget we’re working on right now, we restore most of the cuts. And even go higher than previous years on many of the programs that DOGE slashed,” Schumer said.
Trump predicts he will be impeached if Republicans lose the midterms
Stop justifying giving the country away to the Left voluntarily.
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