Shifts among Latino and suburban voters helped drive sweeping Democratic victories across Texas on election night, according to John Barrett, a political science professor at LeTourneau University in Longview. Barrett described the shift as an earthquake and said a state that had been solidly Republican for a generation had turned blue.
Barrett said many Hispanic voters who had moved toward Republicans shifted back toward Democrats, and that many suburban voters who had traditionally backed Republicans voted for Democrats. He said Republicans kept control of the Texas Senate, so the new administration faces divided government.
Barrett said Hinojosa would not be able to force legislation through the legislature, and that lawmakers would have to compromise. He also said neither party can take Latino voters for granted. "I don't know that Latinos are going to be anybody's loyal voter," he said.