Nationally, the Republicans vastly outpaced Democrats ahead of the midterm elections and held a nearly $100 million advantage at the close of 2025, according to year-end filings to the Federal Election Commission.
But thanks to a special election in the heavily Democratic area encompassing much of the inner city of Houston, the Democrats narrowed the already thin Republican majority in the House on Saturday with Christian Menefee's win.
The U.S. House district seat has been vacant most of the past year, and Menefee will replace the late Representative Sylvester Turner (D), who served only two months before his death in March.
Perhaps more disturbing was the outcome of the state Senate race in the Fort Worth area, where Democrat Taylor Rehmet flipped the district that President Donald Trump won by 17 percentage points in 2024.
Cathie Adams, a former chairman of the Republican Party of Texas, says the Democrats appear emboldened.
"It is really quite a disappointing outcome in that Senate seat; however, it is almost understandable, and it's something that we've got to learn from as Republicans and as conservatives," she insists.
She calls the outcome of the special election a "wake-up call" for "eternal vigilance."
"I think that it is a call for talking to voters in a way that is nuts and bolts; let's talk about the issues that are affecting us today," Adams insists.
Otherwise, GOP voter turnout will be affected.
"This is what every Republican is going to have to learn to do. If they don't, then their voters stay at home, and that's how the Democrats win," Adams summarizes.
In the U.S. House, Republicans hold a 218-213 majority. All 435 House seats will be up for grabs in November.
Texas' special election does not necessarily provide insight into which party might prevail in the congressional elections, but the party that holds the White House typically loses seats in the midterms.
