The party was also dealt a setback over the weekend in the race to replace the late Rep. Ron Wright
Democrats saw their majority in the House shrink to one of the smallest margins in decades after a worse-than-expected performance in 2020. Twelve of their members were defeated by Republicans, while every GOP incumbent held their seat.
“We were all expecting to gain seats last year too, and that’s when we were playing offense,” one Democratic strategist who worked on key races in 2020 said. “We’re on the other side of things now, so yeah, there are some reasons to be wary about next year.”
A special election to replace the late Rep. Ron Wright
For Democrats, the results serve to underscore a lesson they say they learned the hard way in 2020, one that could decide which party wins control of the House of Representatives in next year’s midterm elections: They have to start showing up.
The final results show that Susan Wright, a Republican activist and the late congressman’s widow, will face state Rep. Jake Ellzey (R) in a runoff election to be scheduled by Gov. Greg Abbott (R).
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Jana Lynne Sanchez, the best-funded Democrat who lost to Ron Wright in 2018, finished 354 votes behind Ellzey.
The jockeying is also playing out in House races, with Trump campaign adviser Katrina Pierson having been approached about running to replace the late Rep. Ron Wright
Republicans say the maneuvering among Trump’s allies is indicative of the former president’s continuing popularity with grassroots conservatives who are eager for the next wave of leaders to take up his mantle.
“It’s still Trump’s party and he may actually have gained in popularity [with the GOP base] since impeachment,” said former Rep. Lou Barletta
In deep-red Alabama, the race to replace Shelby could turn on which candidate is seen as the closest to Trump.