Democrats look to flip red Texas House seat in runoff election

Democrat Elizabeth Markowitz is facing off on Tuesday against Republican Gary Gates in a Texas House runoff election that could provide a glimpse of the political environment in the state’s suburbs.

Markowitz, an educator, and Gates, a businessman, are looking to fill the Texas House District 28 seat. Republican John Zerwas stepped down from the position in September to join the University of Texas System as executive vice chancellor for health affairs.

Polls close at 7 p.m. CT.

Markowitz won the most votes in the November 5, 2019 special election with 39.05%, and Gates won the second-largest amount with 28.46%. The state law requires a majority vote in order to avoid a runoff.

In 2016, Fort Bend County, which is home to the entire House district, voted for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton with 51.7% of the vote. The overall state of Texas voted for Trump with 52.5% of the vote.

The race has been the focus of state and national Democrats, who are hoping a win in the district could help build momentum heading into the November elections. Republicans currently control a majority in the Texas House of Representatives.

Former 2020 presidential candidate and Texas Democratic congressman Beto O’Rourke has been campaigning for Markowitz. O’Rourke tweeted last week, “The first critical election of 2020 is happening now in Fort Bend, TX. Victory for Eliz Markowitz means we can win the state house and build the team to defeat Trump in Texas.”