TX-HD28: 2020′s first big test? Not Iowa, but a tiny Texas House race

KATY, Texas (AP) — Beto O’Rourke is livestreaming again. Joe Biden and Julián Castro are making their presence felt. Mike Bloomberg has knocked on doors and outside groups are running TV attack ads. On the brink of 2020?s first big contest, it all screams high stakes.

Not in Iowa. This is just for a single Texas House seat.

“This is one of the most important elections taking place in the country right now,” said O’Rourke, who since ending his own presidential run in November has campaigned for the Democrat in the race, Eliz Markowitz, including again Saturday with Castro.

The outcome of the Jan. 28 special election runoff near Houston — a week before the Iowa caucuses — in an ethnically diverse district of 220,000 people won’t change the balance of power in the GOP-controlled Texas Capitol. But like other special elections since President Donald Trump took office, this one is seen as brimming with broader significance: the year’s first bellwether that could signal bigger trends to come in November.

That’s a stretch, say Republicans, but it’s also easy to see why an obscure race for Texas House District 28 is a tempting testing ground.

Is an impeached president repelling suburbanites who are crucial to his re-election? Trump won this turf by 10 points in 2016. Can Democrats really flip the nation’s biggest red state? If they win this race, they’ll move within eight seats of retaking the Texas House. Is the GOP in trouble with minority voters? The surrounding county, Fort Bend, is often called the most diverse in America.



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