The Democrats previously held a narrow 11-seat majority in the 435-seat House… and they just watched their majority slide to a measly nine seats.
Texas Republican Mayra Flores has likely won a special election in a historically blue district, and she’s set to tip the balance of power more toward the Republicans.
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Former Rep. Filemon Vela Jr., a Democrat, held this seat until from 2013 until March of this year. He abruptly resigned to become a lobbyist, setting the stage for a special election to fill the vacant seat.
On Tuesday night, Flores finally faced Rep. Vincente Gonzalez, a Democrat representing another district in the state.
The Associated Press called the election for Flores, projecting for her to receive more than 50 percent of the vote.
In other words, a Republican flipped a district long held by the Democrats… and even avoided a runoff election.
Flores even reportedly earned a vote from Elon Musk!
Take a look —
I voted for Mayra Flores – first time I ever voted Republican.
Massive red wave in 2022.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 15, 2022
The Democrats have embarrassed themselves by losing this election, just as the Republicans embarrassed themselves by losing Newt Gingrich’s old seat in 2018.
But this election proves the Republican Party has built solid inroads with Hispanic voters. Flores herself is Mexican American, according to her website. She will become the nation’s first Mexican-born congresswoman, Politico reported.
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More to the point, the arch-conservative Flores won an 84% Hispanic district stretching from the southern border to Corpus Christi. In her television ads, she touted her marriage to a border patrol agent, and she slammed President Joe Biden’s handling of the humanitarian crisis at the border.
But some Democrats remain optimistic.
For one thing, Flores is filling the House seat only on a temporary basis. As of now, she will represent the district only until the end of the term in January 2023.
If she wants to represent the district again, then she needs to win an election in November.
Meanwhile, some Democrats apparently told The New York Times that they expect to reconquer the district in November after redistricting.
According to the Times report, the Democrats chose to focus their resources on the November election in state’s more competitive 15th district — rather than spending huge sums of money on a special election in a district expected to turn blue later this year.
NBC News reported that Flores aired many more T.V. ads than her opponent, Democrat lawyer Dan Sanchez. She also reportedly outraised Sanchez.
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Plus, some Democrats see this loss as a cushion on their nearly inevitable losses coming in November.
Still, Flores has taken pride in mobilizing her district’s conservatives.
“We’ve been voting California values, Austin values, but not South Texas values,” Flores said at a campaign event this year, according to The New York Times. “This is our country.”