GOP FLIP: Republicans Win in Texas House District 118

Third Legislative Flip of 2021 for State Republicans

Biden Won District By 14 Points in 2020

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- State Republicans tonight secured their third flip of a state legislative seat in a 2021 special election, as Republican John Lujan was elected in Texas House District 118 -- a district Joe Biden carried by 14 points in 2020. Lujan’s victory comes on the heels of the launch of the RSLC’s “Right Leaders Network,” the committee’s recently announced initiative to enhance its work growing the Republican Party from the ground up by recruiting, training, and supporting women and candidates from communities of color running for state office.

“The RSLC was proud to support John Lujan in this race and we congratulate him and all our partners in Texas for their continued success in recent key legislative elections,” said RSLC President Dee Duncan. “As a former law enforcement officer, John was able to connect with a community that is fed up with the far-left’s defund the police agenda. The support he was able to garner with the Hispanic community in this district is an encouraging sign for Republicans as we seek to expand our reach this cycle, and is further evidence that the socialist policies being pushed by Democrat-controlled Washington are turning off the very constituencies they claim to be fighting for.” 

Lujan’s win follows Ryan Fazio’s August flip of a Connecticut district that Biden won by more than 25%, a special election Democrats, including the DLCC, said was a “harbinger” for the midterm elections. It also comes less than a month after Jon Dunwell won with nearly 60% of the vote in an Iowa House in a district that Democrats have controlled for 46 years.

Tonight’s result in Texas continues a trend pointed out by CNN in August that “Republicans have been outperforming the 2020 baseline by double-digits (in special elections) since the beginning of July.” CNN’s analysis was backed up by an October report from Governing, which stated that “Since June 15, however, Republicans have outperformed in specials by an average of 8 percentage points, according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis."

As Governing put it, Republicans’ “hold on power at the state level continues to frustrate Democrats.” 

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