Republican wins redrawn Texas seat as Democrats thwart wider gains

Republican Jace Yarbrough captured Texas’s redrawn 32nd congressional district in Tuesday’s midterm elections, delivering his party a rare gain during a difficult election across the state. His victory over Democrat Dan Barrios was the only Texas congressional seat Republicans flipped, as Democrats won statewide offices for the first time in 32 years and defended four districts Republicans had sought to capture.

Yarbrough won 51.5 percent of the vote against Barrios’s 48.5 percent. Matthew Wilson, a Southern Methodist University professor who lives in the district, attributed the result to favorable boundaries and a change in campaign emphasis. A constitutional lawyer whose career included challenges to progressive policies, Yarbrough moved from stressing social and cultural issues during the primary to discussing prices and other economic concerns during the general election campaign.

Wilson told Al Jazeera that the shift helped Yarbrough address issues important to voters in the political center. But the district’s Republican tilt was also crucial. Previously covering left-leaning Dallas and nearby suburbs, the seat now includes a smaller portion of the city and extends east through several Republican-dominated counties. Latino, Black and Asian communities together represented about 60 percent of its population in 2024. The new boundaries reduced their share while bringing in predominantly white areas.

The changes were part of a congressional map approved by the Texas legislature in August 2025, following President Donald Trump’s call for Republican-led states to redraw districts. Texas Republicans aimed to gain five seats. Instead, they will enter the next congressional term in January with 24 representatives, a net loss of one seat, while Democrats will hold 14. Democrats will also have commanding control of both chambers of Congress. Wilson said even Yarbrough’s narrow victory reflected a broad shift toward Democrats.

Political experts said the Republican strategy underestimated Latino voters, who account for 40 percent of Texas’s population. After moving toward Trump in 2024, they swung back toward Democrats amid concerns about affordability and his hardline immigration policies. Texas Southern University professor Michael Adams told Al Jazeera that a perceived threat to a community can mobilize its members and increase turnout.

In Houston’s ninth district, Democrat Leticia Gutierrez defeated Republican Alex Mealer with nearly 58 percent of the vote. The redrawn district excluded some Black communities but retained a large population of Latino voters with historically low participation. Latinos make up about 60 percent of the district. Before the election, Gutierrez described a campaign built around Spanish-language outreach, household economic concerns and door-knocking to encourage participation.

Democrats also prevailed in South Texas districts targeted by Republicans. Johnny Garcia defeated Carlos De La Cruz by more than 10 percentage points in a district covering San Antonio suburbs. Along the border, incumbent Henry Cuellar won nearly 66 percent against Tano Tijerina, while Vicente Gonzalez defeated Eric Flores by more than 15 points in the 34th district.

Elsewhere along the border, Democratic Tejano musician Bobby Pulido unseated Republican Monica De La Cruz. Her 2022 victory had foreshadowed wider conservative gains among Texas Latinos, followed by Trump’s success across nearly every Latino-dominated border district in 2024. This year’s results reversed that momentum in an area long regarded as a Democratic stronghold.