Eye on Politics: Post-election analysis of Texas' biggest races
NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) - In our first Eye on Politics episode since the midterms (original air date: 11/10), political reporter Jack Fink breaks down what happened in the key races on election night.
Every week, CBS 11 political reporter Jack Fink breaks down some of the biggest political stories grabbing headlines in North Texas and beyond. Watch the latest episode of Eye on Politics in the video player above and stream new episodes live every Thursday and Friday at 7 p.m. on CBS News DFW.
Statewide race results
Another midterm election season in Texas ends with another sweep by Republicans of all statewide offices. There were no political surprises or upsets in this category.
"All the polling leading up to this point gave Republicans healthy, if not pretty comfortable leads in all of the major statewide races," said Joshua Blank, Research Director at the Texas Politics Project.
At the top of the ballot, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott defeated his Democratic challenger Beto O'Rourke by 11 percentage points.
"Texans sent a very resounding message," Gov. Abbott said Tuesday night, addressing his supporters in McAllen. "They want to keep Texans the beacon of opportunity that we have provided over the past eight years. A Texas where working families can flourish. A Texas where students can be prepared and inspired for college or for a career. A Texas that supports our law enforcement officers and our military."
During his speech, he looked toward the upcoming state legislative session which begins in January.
He advocated for school choice and to continue his efforts to secure the border.
The Governor also repeated his campaign pledge to provide property tax relief.
"We must tap into our $27 billion surplus and use that to give our property owners the largest property tax cut in the history of Texas," Abbott said.
Despite his unsuccessful run for President and his second loss in a statewide race, O'Rourke told his supporters in his hometown of El Paso Tuesday night that he's not giving up on his goals for the state.
"We just want a state where people are free enough and healthy enough to be able to pursue their potential and rise to fulfill their true promise," he said. "A state where we are not defined or divided based on our differences, but find the common interest for the common good right here on the common ground before us. Well, that still is the Texas that I want to live in. That is the dream that I, and I hope all of us, will continue to pursue."
O'Rourke said he's unsure what his role will be going forward, but he's 'in this fight for life.'
During the campaign, O'Rourke pressed for increasing gun sale restrictions after the deadly school shooting in Uvalde last May.
He also pushed for reproductive rights after the state's new law banned most abortions.
Blank said Abbott's message resonated more with voters.
"The issues the voters persistently said were the border and inflation and then largely due to the effectiveness of a lot of the Republican campaigns public safety started to rise as we got closer and closer to Election Day," Blank said.
O'Rourke raised more money than Governor Abbott this year.
But despite a well-financed campaign and statewide name recognition, O'Rourke didn't win as many votes as former Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez, the Democrat who challenged Abbott in 2018 who had neither statewide name recognition nor adequate fundraising.
Valdez won 3,546,615 votes, while O'Rourke earned 3,527,748, a difference of 18,867.
Governor Abbott won 4,424,776 votes, a record amount for a Texas Governor.
While the Governor won Tarrant, Collin and Denton Counties, his margins of victory all declined from 2018 in those counties, and he lost by a greater margin in Dallas County than four years ago. Gov. Abbott's campaign team told reporters that they still have work to do to build up their infrastructure and support in the suburban counties.
In the Lieutenant Governor's race, which was a rematch from 2018, Dan Patrick once again came out on top, defeating Democrat Mike Collier by 11 percentage points.
In the Attorney General's race, Ken Paxton beat Democrat Rochelle Garza by a nine percentage point margin. He told supporters Tuesday night that his political demise was exaggerated.
"The fight is not over," Paxton said. "They're going to continue to come after me, they're going to continue to come after Texas, they're going to continue to come after Republicans around the country and we cannot let them win."
In Houston on election night, Garza told her supporters not to give up.
"Texas is worth investing in," she said. "And there is momentum and support for the issues that we centered this campaign around."
Blank said ultimately Tuesday night's results in Texas' statewide races were not surprising.
"It's not surprising to find that Ken Paxton, Dan Patrick and Greg Abbott all performed pretty similarly and the Democratic candidates challenging them all performed pretty similarly," he said. "And that's a reflection of the polarized political environment we live in and the difficulty I think at this point of any issue to really disqualify that candidate as long as that candidate is a member of your party."
Local race results
Dallas County has been solid blue, but Democrats made even more gains there this week.
The Commissioners Court is now fully served by Democrats for the first time. In precinct two, Democrat Andrew Sommerman defeated the Republican incumbent J.J. Koch.
Democrats retained control of countywide offices including for Judge, where incumbent Clay Jenkins defeated his Republican challenger Lauren Davis.
And in another rematch from 2018, District Attorney John Creuzot once again defeated Faith Johnson by a slightly larger margin than four years ago.
Meanwhile in Tarrant County, Republicans are celebrating as the county stayed red.
In one of the biggest races, Republican Tim O'Hare defeated Democrat Deborah Peoples to become the next County Judge. The current Judge Glen Whitley is retiring at the end of the year.
And in another open seat, Republican Phil Sorrells defeated Democrat Tiffany Burks to become the next District Attorney. Sharen Wilson, the current DA, is also retiring at the end of the year.
To hear from both the Dallas County Democratic Party Chair Kristy Noble and the Tarrant County Republican Chair Rick Barned, watch the full episode of Eye on Politics in the video player above.
In Dallas County, voters also said yes to Proposition A.
Now hotel guests will pay an increased tax collected from room rentals. That money is ear marked for economic development, including a new downtown convention center and renovations for six venues at Fair Park.
"It's my favorite kind of money," Dallas City councilmember Gay Donnell Willis told CBS 11 last month. "It's other people's money. This is a tourist tax. It's a 2% hotel occupancy tax increase that will help us fund these amazing improvements to our community."