An amazing thing happened in Texas last year: After years of dashed dreams, progressives made major inroads up and down the ballot all across this very large and very red state. Some of the most stunning successes came in the state House, where Democrats flipped a dozen seats from the GOP.
They now need just nine more to do something that not long ago might have seemed impossible: take charge of a legislative chamber in the second-biggest state in the nation and, with that, put the brakes on Republican extremism. Without their hammerlock on state government, Texas Republicans would no longer be able to enact laws that target reproductive rights, attack LGBTQ people, suppress the vote, and gerrymander congressional districts.
Here’s the other incredible part: We actually have a road map to the majority. It turns out that, despite his narrow statewide loss in last year’s Senate race, Beto O’Rourke carried nine state House districts still held by Republicans, while in another eight, he lost by just 4 points or less. Those seats will form the battleground that will decide control of the state House, and all of them are up for election next year.
One, however, will go before voters much sooner, and that’s where we come in. House District 28, in the suburbs west of Houston, recently became vacant because a longtime Republican legislator decided to resign after facing the first close election of his career—and the long-term picture is ugly for the GOP. In 2012, Ted Cruz won the 28th District by a giant 64-34 margin. In 2018, he prevailed here just 51-48.
Those trends are a major part of why Democrats have an enormous opportunity to pick this seat up in a special election that’s fast approaching on Nov. 5. The other big reason is that we have an awesome candidate running here whom Daily Kos is proud to endorse: educator Eliz Markowitz.
Want to start turning Texas blue this year? Give $3 to this fantastic progressive right now!
Markowitz, the lone Democrat in the race, is an activist who’s lived in the area her entire life and has deep ties to the progressive community. She’s a strong supporter of women’s reproductive rights and wants to end Texas’ shameful refusal to expand Medicaid. She’s also the only candidate running who’s called for bringing an end to gerrymandering by establishing an independent redistricting commission, and she’s demanded the legislature convene a special session to address the epidemic of gun violence plaguing the state.
Electing Markowitz would not only mean sending a progressive champion to the capitol; it would also make the state House more diverse. Currently, less than a quarter of Texas legislators are women, and the new LGBTQ caucus, while growing, only has five members. Markowitz, who is gay, would increase the ranks of both groups. Markowitz is also Jewish, and her grandmother only barely escaped Hitler’s clutches while almost all of her family was murdered. That gives her an exceptionally valuable perspective in this era of escalating hatred.
And that’s exactly what we’re facing on the Republican side, where six candidates are running. One has promised to "protect religious freedom"—code for allowing Texans to discriminate against LGBTQ communities. Another is a right-wing doctor running to limit women's access to reproductive health services. And still one more is a slumlord and Trump acolyte who is running on a "tough on immigration" platform that vilifies immigrants and asylum-seekers.
If Markowitz wins, she’ll keep these bigots out of office and shrink the number of seats Democrats need to flip the state House next year to just eight. She’ll also take us one step closer to the age-old progressive ambition of turning Texas blue.
But she can only do so with your help. All candidates from all parties will run together on a single ballot on Nov. 5, and the top-two vote-getters will advance to a runoff on an as-yet-unscheduled date if no one takes a majority. But with a fractured GOP field sure to be beset by infighting, Markowitz’s best chance is to avoid a second round and win outright on her first try.
Republicans, however, will do everything they can to prevent that from happening, so we need to step up, big-time. This is one of the most important elections anywhere in the country this year, and it’s all hands on deck. Even Beto’s been doing his part. The rest is up to us.
Please help an awesome progressive turn Texas blue! Give $3 to Eliz Markowitz today!