Dan Barrett Wins HD 97 Special Election

Chalk up another Democrat in the Texas House.

After a contentious November 7 election that turned a bit ugly after some Republican-on-Republican hating, Tarrant County has a new state representative in House District 97. Dan Barrett pulled out a 52%-48% win in today's runoff election for the unexpired HD 97 term, in a House district that had been gerrymandered for Republicans and had gone just 41% Democratic in the 2006 general election.

Today's victory puts Texas Democrats at five seats away from holding a majority in the Texas House of Representatives a few short years before the next scheduled legislative redistricting.

The results today can be credited to two things: the dire situation that Republicans find themselves in nationwide as well as locally in Tarrant County, as indicated by the amount of backbiting and negativity among the many Republican candidates originally in the race, and the resulting mood among local Republicans that has a tendency of depressing turnout numbers; and the solid organization and remarkable hard work both by the Dan Barrett campaign and by local Democratic and progressive organizations in Tarrant County. Congratulations, Representative Barrett, for a fight well fought and won.