Republicans held on to state House seats in Dallas but lost more judicial races Tuesday night in the Democrat stronghold.
The two remaining Republicans in Dallas County’s legislative delegation—State Reps. Morgan Meyer (Dallas) and Angie Chen Button (Garland)—held their seats in rematches against the same heavily funded Democrat challengers they narrowly defeated in 2018.
Meyer won with 49.6 percent of the vote, a margin of 1,651 votes, in House District 108 against Democrat Joanna Cattanach. Button held on to House District 112 with 48.9 percent, a 224-vote margin, against Brandy Chambers. Both races included a Libertarian candidate who took 2 percent of the vote.
Republican challengers failed to win back any state House seats from Democrats.
First-time Republican candidate Will Douglas came closest, taking 48 percent of the vote against Democrat State Rep. Rhetta Bowers of Rowlett in House District 113.
Linda Koop, who served three terms representing House District 102 before getting swept out of office along with most other Dallas-area Republicans in the last general election, lost again to State Rep. Ana-Maria Ramos of Richardson, 54-46 percent.
Republican challenger Luisa Del Rosal lost the race for House District 114 to Democrat State Rep. John Turner by the same margin, 54-46 percent.
First-term “blue wave” Democrat State Reps. Terry Meza (Irving) and Julie Johnson (Carrollton) won re-election over Republican newcomers Gerson Hernandez in House District 105 and Karyn Brownlee in House District 115. Two-term Democrat State Rep. Victoria Neave (Mesquite) held her House District 107 seat against Republican challenger Samuel Smith.
Four Dallas-area Democrats ran unopposed for their House seats. Dallas County has 14 Texas House districts.
Judicial Races
Dallas voters also decided several key judicial races Tuesday, flipping all Republican seats on the ballot to Democrats.
Three Republican justices lost contested races to keep their seats on Texas’ 5th Court of Appeals in Dallas, which flipped from solid red to an 8-5 Democrat majority in 2018’s “blue wave” election.
Justices David Evans, John Browning, and Bill Whitehill lost to Democrat challengers Bonnie Lee Goldstein, Craig Smith, and Dennise Garcia—district court judges with no appellate court experience. The court has jurisdiction over all civil, criminal, and family appeals from district and county courts in six North Texas counties: Collin, Dallas, Hunt, Grayson, Kaufman, and Rockwall.
The Republicans won a majority in the other five counties, but Dallas voters tipped the races to Democrats, who each received 53 percent of the total vote.
The only two Republican district court judges in Dallas, Ashley Wysocki and Mike Lee, also lost their races to Democrats. Each drew 36 percent of the vote.
Local Races
Dallas County Commissioners Theresa Daniel and John Wiley Price, both Democrats, easily held off Republican challengers. Democrat Sheriff Marian Brown defeated Republican Chad Prda, 64-36 percent.
Voters also approved most of Dallas Independent School District’s $3.7 billion bond package—the largest local debt proposal in Texas history. Proposition A ($3.3 billion for school facilities) and Proposition B ($270 million for technology equipment) passed; Propositions C, D, and E to fund stadium upgrades, a performing arts theater, and a natatorium, failed.
The bonds will cost local taxpayers an estimated $6 billion with interest—a staggering sum on top of the $4.4 billion in bond debt and interest the district already owes. The new bonds won’t be paid off until 2061.
Complete election results can be found on the Dallas County Elections website.
