Burnt Orange Report

Vo, Strama, Leibowitz Defeat Republican Incumbents

By Byron LaMasters

Good news for Democrats in three state rep races.

Hubert Vo has defeated tuition-deregulation leader Talmadge Heflin by a razor-thin 52 votes. The Houston Chronicle reports:

Republican Talmadge Heflin, one of the state's most powerful legislators, was upset by businessman Hubert Vo late Tuesday, losing a close race for the seat Heflin has held for more than two decades.

In complete but unofficial returns, Vo had a 52-vote margin over Heflin, who leads the influential House Appropriations Committee.

In other Harris County state House races, Republican incumbent Martha Wong and Democratic incumbent Scott Hochberg beat back strong challenges to hold their seats.

I'm sure there will be a recount there, but its good to see Vo in the lead.

Talmadge Heflin (I) REP 20,532 49.94%
Hubert Vo DEM 20,584 50.06%

Mark Strama has also won tonight over Jack Stick.

Jack Stick (I) REP 30,795 47.72%
Mark Strama DEM 31,351 48.58%
Greg Knowles LIB 2,389 3.70%

That's a 556 vote margin. It ought to be enough to hold.

There will also be a challenge in district 48:

State Representative District 48

Todd Baxter (I) REP 34,375 50.12%
Kelly White DEM 34,204 49.88%

That's 171 votes. White's folks say there are still some votes that have not been counted yet in precincts where they ran out of ballots. Baxter probably holds on, but there wil surely be a recount here.

It also looks as if David Leibowitz has defeated incumbent Republican Ken Mercer in San Antonio by 512 votes:

Ken Mercer (I) REP 19,072 49.33%
David McQuade Leibowitz DEM 19,588 50.67%

Good news there. There might be a recount, but the numbers look good. This is an expected correction in a Democratic district, although I would have anticipated a larger margin.

In other state rep races two Democrats have fallen.

HD 18:
John Otto REP 26,301 54.56%
Dan Ellis (I) DEM 21,909 45.44%

HD 56:
Charles "Doc" Anderson REP 31,035 52.59%
John Mabry (I) DEM 27,977 47.41%

Right now it looks like Democrats have gained one seat in the state house. That's the first time Democrats have gained seats in the state house since 1972. Not what a lot of us would have liked to have seen, but it's a step in the right direction. I'm a little bit flattered that I essentially called 149/150 of the state rep races correctly in my projections last week (my only incorrect call was Ellis over Otto). Of the six competetive congressional races, I was also correct in four of six congressional races (I was incorrect in my calls for Sandlin and Frost).