On Jan. 28, Republican Gary Gates was elected into the Texas House District over Democrat Eliz Markowitz by a 16 percent margin. Democrats had hoped to use this win for some momentum toward the control over the lower chamber in November.

“I am personally a republican, and I feel really good about it,” junior Chase Stevens said. “He won by [a massive margin and] this looks good for the party and the state.”

The goal of the Democratic Party for 2020 was not to flip the Senate seat, but to flip the Texas House of Representatives, and a national democratic political action committee called Forward Majority spent over $400,000 on this election to try and do so.

“With a tense field in 2020, the runoff was surprising,” Stevens said. “Markowitz [came out] on top, but with Gates’ own funding and precedent of republican election, the election turned out in [his] favor.”

Gates will finish the term of the previous state representative John Zerwas, which ends this January. With this year being an off-year for the legislature, Gates’ term will end before any votes can be made by him as a lawmaker.

Both Gates and Markowitz are running for full term beginning next year and will appear on the respective primary ballots for both parties on March 3.