On Tuesday night, in what might be a harbinger of things to come, the GOP turned a state House district that is roughly 75% Hispanic from blue to red, as GOP House candidate John Lujan won the seat in Texas’ 118th House of Representatives district.
🚨FLIP ALERT🚨 Republican @LujanForTX flipped Texas HD-118 from blue to RED!
South Texas is ready for new leaders who finally stand up to protect the citizens they serve. pic.twitter.com/RLVtd52hP3
— Republican State Leadership Committee (@RSLC) November 3, 2021
The Texas Tribune reported:
The victory by Lujan gives Republicans an early win in their drive to make new inroads in South Texas after President Joe Biden underperformed there last year. With all vote centers reporting Tuesday night, Lujan was leading Democrat Frank Ramirez 51.2% to 48.8%, according to unofficial results. Lujan briefly held the seat in 2016, while Ramirez is a former staffer for the San Antonio City Council and at the Texas Legislature.
The seat was last represented by Democratic representative Leo Pacheco, who “resigned effective August 19, 2021, to teach public administration at San Antonio College,” as Ballotpedia noted.
According to the 2015-2019 American Community Survey, with an analysis by Texas Legislative Council, Research Division, the 18thdistrict was 73.4% Hispanic.