ELECTIONRESULTS
2020 Voter Guide
TURNOUT RECORD
Cy-Fair sees high turnout, shift favoringRepublicans in election
Harris County saw record voter turnout during the November election. The percentage of registered voters to cast ballots was higher in Cy-Fair than the county overall.
V O T E S C A S T
Cy-Fair area
Harris County
BY SHAWN ARRAJJ
Republican advantages Among the Cy-Fair area Republicans who won races was Mike Schofield, who won Texas House District 132 against Democratic incumbent Gina Calanni with 51.8% of the vote. The district, which covers parts of Katy and Cypress, was narrowly won by Calanni in 2018 by a margin of 113 votes. Republicans were also able to capture the county commissioner seat representing Harris County Precinct 3, which covers parts of Cypress, Katy and the western edge of the city of Houston. The seat was up for grabs after Republican incumbent Steve Radack announced he would not run for re-election. Republican Tom Ramsey ended up besting Democrat Michael Moore in the contest, earning 52.4% of the vote. Similar forces affecting national races may have tilted the balance in favor of Ramsey, Rottinghaus said. Had Moore won, it would have given Democrats a supermajority. “Savvy Republican voters saw that and reversed course,” Rottinghaus said. Democratic Rep. Jon Rosenthal, who won the race of Texas House District 135 in 2018, managed to hold onto his seat, defeating Republican Justin Ray by 300 votes. Rosenthal won by about 1,700 votes in 2018. An analysis of voting trends in Cy-Fair south of Hwy. 290—in areas relevant to the Harris County Precinct 3 commissioner race as well as Texas House districts 132 and 135—shows several precincts that favored Dem- ocrats in 2018 switched to favoring Republicans in 2020, including parts of Miramesa and Coppefield. Meanwhile, areas near Yaupon Ranch and Remington Grove, which heavily favored Democrats in 2018, contin- ued to favor them in 2020 but to a lesser degree. Some Democrats, including Calanni, may have suffered from attacks painting them as being associated with the most liberal wing of the party, Rottinghaus said. It also did not help that Biden signaled interest in moving away from oil- and gas-based energy sources, he said. Democratic candidates may have also been hurt by the cautious
The Cy-Fair area saw historic voter turnout in November elections with more than 165,000 ballots cast across 57 area precincts. Although voters in Harris County overall backed Demo- crats Joe Biden for president and MJ Hegar for Senate, Republicans held on to local seats in Cy-Fair while also flipping one seat taken by Democrats in 2018. “There was definitely a Republi- can wave that benefited down-ballot Republicans, and it showed that locally, the Republican brand was still strong despite some dissatis- faction with Donald Trump,” said Brandon Rottinghaus, a University of Houston political science professor. The 165,461 ballots cast for presi- dent in Cy-Fair compares to 110,149 ballots for U.S. Senate in 2018 and 128,545 ballots for president in 2016, according to data from the Harris County Clerk’s Office. In an interview conducted near the end of the early voting process, Marlene Lobberecht, the president of the Cy-Fair chapter of the League of Women Voters, said the suburb’s high voter turnout rates could be attributed to the promotion of voter turnout by community organizations and new initiatives introduced by Harris County officials this year. “I think after 2016, people under- stand that their vote does matter and they really do count, and Harris County has worked very hard to make it easier to vote,” she said. County election officials provided individuals who chose to vote by mail the ability to track their ballot status, and Lobberecht said that gave voters the confidence that their ballots will be counted. In-person voters could also visit the Texas secretary of state’s web- site and see the names of county residents who have cast their ballot by date. Lobberecht said this also contributes to election security and confidence in the system by allowing state officials to ensure people only vote once. “It’s much more transparent than it’s ever been, and I think that’s strongly encouraging,” she said.
128,545 1,312,112
2020 voter turnout
2016 (president)
110,149
2018 (Senate)
1,207,754
165,461
2020 (president)
1,640,818
68.14%
76.70%
V O T E R T R E N D S
70% or more Republican 60%-69% Republican 50%-59% Republican 50%-59% Democrat 60%-69% Democrat 70% or more Democrat less than 5 votes
An analysis of voting trends in 57 Cy-Fair precincts shows several precincts that favored Democratic candidates in 2018 shifting to favor Republican candidates in 2020.
2 0 1 8
99 TOLL
249
290
529
6
N
2 0 2 0
99 TOLL
249
290
529
6
N
SOURCE: HARRIS COUNTY CLERK’S OFFICE/COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
approach to campaigning in person, said Michael Marshall, a professor of comparative politics at Prairie View A&M University. “It wasn’t until September and October that Democrats began meeting people in socially distant
ways,” he said. “This distance may have been the right thing to do from a public health perspective, but may have hurt the Democrats when it comes to their election process.” Matt Dulin and Danica Lloyd contributed to this report.
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CY-FAIR EDITION • DECEMBER 2020
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