As a courtesy to those who may not have access to local election results throughout the state, we are sending out this special update focusing on local prosecutor elections. (We’ll also throw in our two cents on the broader elections as well—you know we can’t resist!)
Texas prosecutor races
Here are the results for felony prosecutor general election races:
53rd DA (Travis County): Jose Garza (D) defeated Martin Harry (R) and will take over for Margaret Moore in January.
105th DA (Nueces County): Mark Gonzalez (D-incumbent) defeated 79th ADA Jon West (R) to win a second term, despite the county as a whole voting Republican almost across the board.
Harris County DA: Kim Ogg (D-incumbent) defeated Mary Nan Huffman (R) to earn a second term.
And here are the results for misdemeanor and/or civil prosecutor general election races:
Brazos County: Earl Gray (R) defeated Freddie Medina (D) and will take over for the retiring Rod Anderson (R) in January.
Fort Bend County: DFPS attorney Bridgette Smith-Lawson (D) defeated Steve Rogers (R) to replace retiring Roy Cordes (R) in November.
Harris County: Christian Menefee (D) defeated John Nation (R) and will replace Vince Ryan (D) next year.
Kent County: Katie Lackey (R) defeated Bill Ballard (D-incumbent) and will take over in January.
Nueces County: Asst. DA Jenny Dorsey (R) defeated former Asst. CA Rene Flores and will over for the retiring Laura Jimenez (D) in November.
Potter County: Scott Brumley (R-incumbent) defeated Ryan Brown to retain his office for another term.
Williamson County: Dee Hobbs (R-incumbent) defeated Stan Springerley to earn another term.
This is information that we have obtained from a variety of sources, but we can’t guarantee its accuracy due to the secondhand nature of the information we have received, so if you have any corrections or additions to share, please email them to [email protected] and we will amend the list online.
Prosecutor race analysis
Pending corrections to our data from the primary and general elections, we did some number-crunching and have come up with the following observations:
- Of the roughly 285 local prosecutor offices on the ballot this cycle, only 34 incumbent prosecutors (12%) faced challengers while another 31 open seats (11%) were on the ballot due to retirement, early resignation, or death. That’s a total possible change of 65 offices (23%).
- Of the 34 incumbent prosecutors who were challenged, 30 (88%) were in primaries; only five (15%) faced challengers in the general election.
- Of the 30 prosecutors challenged in a primary, 13 (43%) were defeated.
- Of the five prosecutors challenged in the general election, one (20%) was defeated (in tiny Kent County, population 808 [c. 2010]).
- Of the 31 open seats, 18 (58%) were filled by an uncontested candidate.
- As of now, we know of 49 new county attorneys or district attorneys who will take office in January, for a turnover rate of 17 percent. That marks the lowest turnover rate in the past six election cycles.
Perhaps the biggest takeaway from this data is that final point. As you will read below, “low turnover” was a general trend this election cycle all across the state, so we will leave it up to others to ponder the significance of the lack of “action” in most Texas prosecutor races in 2020.
National recap
Everyone at the national level is still focused on The Big Race, but with that still undecided, a look down the ballot shows … a nothingburger, mostly. The U.S. Senate will remain red while the House of Representatives will remain blue (although the majority margins for both might be narrower after all the ballots are counted). In other words: Lather, rinse, repeat in Congress.
As for the Texas congressional races, barring the discovery of another infamous “Box 13” in some out-of-the-way place, every Texas congressional seat remained in the hands of the party that held it as of this time yesterday, even if a few of the names have changed. Interestingly, in five congressional rematches from 2018’s “Blue Wave” election, Republican incumbents or successors generally did better this time around. (People claim to hate Congress, but they sure seem to stick by their local team, don’t they?) Just remember, in some places the maintenance of the status quo might be chalked up to the way certain districts were drawn, which is something we’re going to get to live through again in this upcoming session. Now you know why redistricting is such a blood sport!
Statewide judicial recap
In the high court races across Texas, the Republicans held serve across the board. Court of Criminal Appeals judges Newell, Richardson, and Yeary can all renew their Austin apartment leases for the foreseeable future. (And congratulations to Supreme Court Justice Jane Bland for being the state’s highest vote-getter this cycle among all candidates on any ballot!)
At the appellate court level, several chief justice seats changed hands—and in a few instances, parties—as the Blue Wave of 2018 continued to flow through the judicial branch, albeit at a much slower pace than two years ago.
Legislative recap
Unlike with the judiciary, this election cycle saw very little overall change in the state legislature, whether it be counted by party split or new faces. The State Senate will welcome two new Democrats and the State House will welcome 15 new members—10 Republicans and five Democrats. That’s a turnover rate of six and 10 percent, respectively, which is very, very low.
The biggest surprise of the night might have been the lack of surprises in the House. As of right now, the two parties swapped a pair of seats in Harris County, and there is still one R seat in Dallas County and one D seat in Harris County that are each close enough to perhaps go to recounts. Regardless of those late outcomes, though, it’s clear that Democrats’ high-profile efforts to flip the Texas House were for naught. The partisan split in that chamber is still 83 R–67 D after the election. Thus, the main difference for next session will be who sits on the House dais and steers the ship.
On that front, State Rep. Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) announced at lunchtime today that he has the support of a super-majority of House Republican members plus support from several House Democrats, which combine to put him comfortably over the 76-vote threshold necessary to be the next Speaker of the House. A list of his supporters can be found using a link in this article if you want to see where your local legislators stand, keeping in mind that several legislators not on that list—including State Rep. Trent Ashby (R-Lufkin), another declared candidate for speaker—are still working on alternatives. Nothing is official until the House members actually get sworn in and vote for their own leadership on Tuesday, January 12, 2021, so keep popping your popcorn and watching the news as it develops!
Across the rotunda, State Senate elections went according to predictions, with the Democrats regaining control of one traditionally blue seat (Senate District 19) that stretches from San Antonio to the Big Bend after former State Rep. Roland Gutierrez (D-San Antonio) defeated State Sen. Pete Flores (R-Pleasanton). The only other new face in the Senate will be former State. Rep. Cesar Blanco (D-El Paso), who takes over the Senate seat most recently held by the retiring Jose Rodriguez (D), a former El Paso County Attorney. As a result of the SD-19 change, the partisan split in the Senate will now be 18 R–13 D, which could be a small but momentous change because it puts the Senate Republicans one vote shy of the 60 percent needed to bring legislation to the floor under current Senate rules. Of course, for a long time that was known as the “Two-Thirds Rule” until it was changed to a “Three-Fifths Rule” by the Republicans a few sessions ago to accommodate the new math they faced. Who knows, maybe we’ll be calling it “The Seven-Twelfths Rule” in a few months.
As for what all this portends for legislation next session … we have no idea! It’s still too early to tell. Tune in again on Friday when we will have another update and start turning our focus to the political and policy implications of all these events. Right now, we’re going to go take a nap.
Quotes of Election Week
“Texas is not blue, but after this latest election, its Democrats are.”
—Texas Tribune executive editor Ross Ramsey, in his analysis of yesterday’s election results.
“Is Texas on the route to becoming blue, or is Texas on the road to becoming a perennial battleground? That’s a question I don’t know the answer to. But I do feel confident saying we are moving in the purple direction, and we may just stay stuck at purple.”
—Victoria DeFrancesco Soto, associate dean at the UT LBJ School of Public Affairs, commenting upon the outlook for future state and national elections in Texas.
“There have been some hassles. One guy came in and licked a voting machine. We asked him to leave. He got to cast his ballot.”
—Richard Martin, a poll worker in Travis County (where else? Ha ha).
“You try to get into office, you make promises, and then four years later you have to explain why you haven’t fully achieved those and why they’re still a good thing to try. That’s just a more complicated message. … You never come into the prosecutor’s job and propose profound change and say four years later, ‘Well, I delivered.’ Criminal justice just doesn’t turn on a dime.”
—Ronald Wright, a law professor at Wake Forest University, on the dynamics of some local prosecutor races around the country.
“No one has a bead on who the likely front-runner [to be House Speaker] is at this point, so don’t bother asking us; however, that could change by this time next week. Stay tuned!”
—Us, in this space, five days ago. (Told ya!)
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