By Dave Andrusko

Texas is, it seems, always in the news. And not just because of the Texas Heartbeat Act, as important as that is.
Its ground zero for the Democrats who believe they can turn a Red state (Republican) into a Purple state (competitive) and eventually a Blue state (Democrat).
Those plans took a crushing series of blows. First, John Lujan flipped a Democratic seat in southern Bexar County, in a November 2 special election. “The seat on San Antonio’s South Side favors Democrats and Biden carried it by 14 percentage points last year,” the Texas Tribune reported. “But the GOP had gone all in to capture the seat, hoping to score an early victory in their quest to make new gains in South Texas after Biden’s underwhelming numbers throughout the region.”
And, in a possible preview of things to come, “State Rep. Ryan Guillen left the Democratic Party on Monday, giving members of his new party something to crow about as Republicans seek to solidify recent gains in South Texas,” Chuck Lindell of the Austin American-Stateman reported. “There are now three Latino Republicans serving in the Texas House.”
With the latest victory and switch in parties, Republicans now hold an 85-65 advantage in the Texas House.