Democrats Battle To Flip Texas House Blue

AUSTIN, TX — The race is on for Democrats to turn the Texas Statehouse blue for the first time since 2003, and they're eyeing 22 districts in hopes of making it happen.

Of the state's 150 house seats up for election this year, Democrats have identified 22 as "competitive" seats that could either reelect Democratic incumbents or vote out Republicans on Nov. 3.

Nine of the 22 districts are in the crosshairs because they turned out in favor of Beto O'Rourke in his race against incumbent senator Ted Cruz in 2018, and five are already held by Democrats hoping to hold off Republican challengers for another election.

All told, 17 districts are held by Republicans but have been identified by Democrats as targets in 2020.

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The number of Democrats in the Texas House of Representatives grew by 12 in 2018, giving Democrats control of 67 of the state's 150 house seats. The remaining 83 are held by Republicans.

That means democrats need to win only nine more seats on Election Day to turn the state's congress blue.

Mostly, the districts are suburban or exurban — being located outside the suburban areas of a major city — and are located in Blanco, Hays, Collin, Dallas, Denton, Fort Bend, Tarrant, Harris, Bexar, Bell and Lampasas Counties, Reform Austin reports.

The state's congressional districts were redrawn in 2013 after federal judges found the districts created by a Republican legislature in 2011 discriminated against minorities.

They will be redrawn again in 2021 based on data from the 2020 census, and partisanship is likely to play a role in considerations. Should Democrats win the majority of the state's house seats, redistricting would lay the groundwork for future Democratic gains in Texas.