States & Candidates

The Opportunity

What was once a Democratic pipe dream—a Blue Texas—is now a real possibility: Democrats picked up 12 seats in the Texas House, two seats in the Texas Senate and two seats in the U.S. House. And Beto O'Rourke won a 76-74 majority of Texas State House districts, pointing to a clear path to the seats needed for a new majority. This is the most crucial chamber up in 2020 for Congressional redistricting.

The Stakes

For decades, the Texas legislature has been swept up in racism and right-wing ideology. Today, the legislature is defined by its meanness and intolerance.

• Demonstrated an open hostility to same-sex marriage and undocumented immigrants.

• Revolutionized redistricting, drawing districts that decisively captured the state for the far right.

• Zealously defunded women’s-health programs, ignoring skyrocketing rates of women dying in childbirth and living in poverty.

• Denied tens of thousands of special needs kids the education they need.

• Refused to expand Medicaid, despite having the highest rate of uninsured people in the country.

2020 Political Landscape

• In 2020, the entire Texas House is up for election, and Democrats need to net eight of 83 Republican-held seats to flip the chamber.

• In 2018:

  • Beto O’Rourke won a majority of State House districts (76), and came within 4 points of winning an additional nine districts.  

  • Democrats improved on their 2016 state legislative performance in all 18 of the Republican-held seats that O’Rourke won or came within four points of winning.  In 16 of them, Democrats improved by 9% or more.

  • Democrats had to contend with Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s well-funded re-election campaign atop the ticket.  

  • In 2020, both the presidential and U.S. Senate races will be closer than the gubernatorial race, denying a similar coattail effect to down-ballot Republicans.