You may have heard about the upcoming battle in 2020 for control of the Texas Legislature. What do you know about Texas statehouse elections? What will it take for Democrats to flip the Texas house? And why should you care so much?
Welcome to HouseCleaning, a new segment where we will focus on a Texas State House district targeted for Democratic pick-up every week.
—————————
This week we are looking at House District 112 in northeast Dallas County. The district includes Garland and Richardson and is one of just two remaining Republican-held districts in the county. It will be a key battleground in the fight for control of the Texas House.
With a population according to the last census of 167,000, the district was already majority-minority ten years ago, and those trends have almost certainly continued. The majority of the residents are Black, Hispanic, and there is a sizable Asian American population as well.
The current representative of District 112 is Angie Chen Button, a Republican who’s held the seat for a decade. Button has consistently received high ratings from far-right organizations including the Texas Eagle Forum, Texas Values in Action, the American Conservative Union and the NRA.
Button is facing a rematch this year against her 2018 Democratic opponent Brandy Chambers, who lost to Chen Button by just 2 points. That’s only 1,100 votes.
This is one of the most highly contested seats in North Texas. Hillary Clinton narrowly edged out Donald Trump by 1.2 points in 2016, while Beto O’Rourke carried House District 112 by almost ten points in the 2018 midterm election.
Meanwhile, Democratic challenger Brandy Chambers is running unopposed in the March 3rd Primary. An attorney for more than 20 years, Chambers has championed issues including public education and expanding access to health care, as well as climate change, criminal justice reform and fighting human trafficking.
