... Democrats scored a series of historic victories in Texas state politics earlier this month, winning every statewide race on the ballot and a number of more local contests to boot. Gina Hinojosa upset Gov. Greg Abbott to become the state’s first-ever Latina governor and the first Democrat elected to the position since the 1990s. Democratic candidates swept up key posts in the races for lieutenant governor, attorney general, comptroller, and land and agricultural commissioners. In the state House, Democrats won a majority for the first time in over two decades.
On a statewide level, only the Texas Senate, the state’s Supreme Court and court of criminal appeals, and the railroad commission remain under Republican control. And while they didn’t win the majority in the latter three bodies, Democrats gained significant ground there, too. For the first time since 1990, the party claimed one of the state’s three railroad commissioner positions.In the races for Texas’ state courts, meanwhile, Democratic candidates managed to secure three of nine seats on the criminal appeals court and four of nine on the state Supreme Court, smashing another decades-long streak of Republican victories several times over. The last time any Democrat had been elected to either court was in 1994. ...
