Democrats' Path To National Power In The 2020s Runs Through Small Races In Texas
Hirsch, a Minnesota transplant who raised her four kids in Plano, Texas, fell short, losing to Republican incumbent Matt Shaheen by just 391 votes. But she knew that in 2020, the stakes would be even higher. She’s right: Strange as it may seem, Democrats’ path to national power over the next decade might include Hirsch’s race in Collin County, Texas.
It’s all about redistricting, the process by which governors and state legislators draw each state’s legislative and congressional districts, and which occurs every ten years, after each census. In recent decades, the Democratic party has overlooked the importance of state legislature races, giving Republicans tremendous power to draw district boundaries that give them a substantial partisan advantage.
If Democrats can win races like Hirsch’s and take back the Texas House in 2020, they’ll have a voice in Texas’ redistricting process. That could ensure that, in future elections, Dems have a much more level playing field in the huge, blue-trending state.
“We flipped 12 [seats] in 2018, we have to defend all 12 of those. … But we have to flip nine more and my race has to be one of them,” Hirsch told HuffPost. “There’s limited opportunity for Democrats to have a voice.”
Texas Republicans know exactly what’s at stake, too.
“There is nothing more important — not only to Texas, but literally the nation — than to make sure that we maintain the Texas House” going into redistricting, Republican state Sen. Kelly Hancock said at a Tea Party event in June. If “we lose Texas, we lose the nation. And there’s no other place to go.”
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/democrats-2020-texas-races-sharon-hirsch_n_5d2774d7e4b0bd7d1e1937a6?ncid=engmodushpmg00000004