November 6, 2020
After all of the drama, media coverage and tens of millions of dollars spent, not much changed for politics in the State of Texas. There still has not been a Democrat elected statewide since 1994. Republicans still control the Texas House of Representatives by the same margin as the previous legislative session, 83 Republicans – 67 Democrats. And, similar to the last 11 presidential elections, all 38 Electoral College votes will go the Republican. As anticipated, the Democrats did take one State Senate seat, but Republicans still control the majority in the Upper Chamber with a split of 18 Republicans – 11 Democrats.
Governor Abbott had a very successful election cycle helping to successfully defend Republican majorities in the Texas House and US Congressional delegation. Lt. Governor Patrick returns to control the Texas Senate and the Republican Majority in the Texas House is currently in the messy process of electing a new Republican Speaker.
Texas House
It was widely expected that Texas House Republicans holding onto seats in urban and suburban areas were on the political endangered species list. However only one of those races actually fell to Democrats; Sarah Davis (R -Houston) lost to Ann Johnson 52% - 48%. On the flip side, the Rs picked up a seat in Houston where former State Rep Michael Schofield beat Democrat incumbent Gina Calanni by the same 52% - 48% margin.
The TFFA Political Action Committee had a very successful election cycle giving to winners in all but one race in the House and helping to defend the business friendly Republican majority.
Tight races where TFFA supported incumbent Republicans include:
Angie Chen Button (R – Garland) won by 223 votes 48.9-48.6
Sam Harless (R – Spring) won 53.2-46.7
Ed Thompson (R – Pearland) won 56.7-43.3
Lynn Stucky (R – Denton) won 54.9-45.1
Craig Goldman (R – Ft. Worth) won 52.7-45.1
Steve Allison (R – San Antonio) won 53.5-46.5
(TFFA PAC’s only defeat came with Linda Koop (R – Dallas) unsuccessfully trying to come back and defeat incumbent Rep. Ana-Maria Ramos (D – Dallas) who won 53.9-46.1)
Texas Senate
In the Texas Senate, the only competitive race flipped the way most had predicted. Senate District 19 Incumbent Pete Flores (R- Pleasanton) lost to State Representative Roland Gutierrez from San Antonio 46.57% to 49.86%. The Libertarian candidate in the race took 3.57% of the vote.
All Senate candidates supported by TFFA PAC won their races including Sen. Lois Kolkhorst (R – Brenham). TFFA PAC voted not to participate in the Flores-Gutierrez race.
While the Republican loss does not change control of the Senate, current rules for the body require a 3/5 vote of the membership to bring a bill to a vote on the Senate Floor. The Senate is now made up of 18Rs to 13Ds, meaning a unified front by the Democrats can block any legislation they do not like. The interesting question is whether Lt. Governor Patrick will move to change the Senate rules to only require a simple majority of the membership to bring a bill up for a vote.
Texas Legislative Session 2021 - Looking Ahead
What does it all mean as we sprint (with our masks on…) toward the 2021 Legislative Session?
A moderate GOP House and a numerically-checked GOP Senate could temper the typically partisan nature of a legislative session, particularly when both chambers are faced with such critical topics as pandemic relief and budgetary shortfalls, not to mention the challenges associated with the Constitutionally required 2021 Legislative Redistricting.
On the other hand, fresh off the heels of victories that Democrats all but guaranteed they would secure, Republicans might find themselves buoyed by election results and emboldened to lock in those advantages through the decennial redistricting process. With all 181 legislators and every major statewide officeholder required to run for re-election in 2022, partisanship with an eye for pleasing primary voters may well rule the day.
TFFA PAC Announcement – TFFA PAC Friday Auction
The Texas Food & Fuel Association Political Action Committee (TFFA PAC) needs your help to raise money ahead the deadline for giving financial contributions to political candidates in Texas. The TFFA PAC is hosting the TFFA PAC Friday Auction to help raise funds for the Political Action Committee of the Association. All proceeds raised from the PAC Friday Auction will go towards the Association's final advocacy push and political contributions ahead of the important 2021 Texas Legislative Session. Each bid is an opportunity for our Political Action Committee to raise money to build their funds.
The auction begins on Tuesday November 17th and ends on Friday November 20th at 9:00 PM CST.
If you or someone you know would like to donate an item or service to the auction click here or have them send an email to mburgin@tffa.com by 11/15/2020 with a description of the item, its value, and photos of the item.
You can view our auction at YourCharityAuction.com/TFFA.
For more information, please contact:
Matt Burgin, Director of Government Relations, at 512.617.4305 / mburgin@tffa.com
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