Democrat Emerges Victorious After Recount in Battleground Texas Race Against Trump-Backed Candidate
Over a month after Election Day, a recount in a Texas state Senate race has resulted in a narrow win for the Democratic candidate over the Trump-backed Republican.
The Texas Tribune reported Friday that Democrat Morgan LaMantia had beaten Republican Adam Hinojosa for the hotly contested seat in South Texas by a minuscule margin of 0.19 percent.
Hinojosa issued a statement in which he conceded the race and said, “While we did not get the result we were hoping for in the Senate race and subsequent recount, I remain committed to advancing our shared values.”
— Elect Adam Hinojosa (@ElectAHinojosa) December 16, 2022
The defeat was a big disappointment for Republicans, who had spent a large amount of money hoping to flip the seat.
Hinojosa, who had been endorsed by former President Donald Trump as well as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, fell just a few hundred votes short in the hotly contested race.
LaMantia celebrate her win Friday, saying that the recount had “proven once again that the integrity of our electoral system is secure.”
— Morgan LaMantia (@lamantia4texas) December 14, 2022
She made a good point. While it is not ideal that a Democrat came out on top, the recount was important to ensure the results were accurate and the right candidate won.
The November midterm elections saw several very close races that were decided by the slimmest of margins.
One of the tightest was the one for Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District, in which Republican incumbent Lauren Boebert narrowly defeated Democratic challenger Adam Frisch after an automatic recount determined that she had won by 500 votes.
In Iowa, the machine count in one state House race declared the Democrat to have won the seat, but a hand recount later gave the tightly contested election to the Republican.
As the Texas recount shows, these recounts have not always resulted in victory for the Republicans. In a Massachusetts state House race, the recount resulted in the Democrat beating the Republican by a single vote.
Still, as questions swirl about the integrity and security of our electoral systems, it is more important than ever that the votes are accurately counted and reported.
This is why recounts like the one in Texas are vital. Voters must be provided transparent evidence that the results of every race have been tallied correctly and they accurately reflect the will of the electorate.
The Texas recount confirmed the midterm elections as a whole were a mixed bag for Republicans. While the GOP did manage to take back the House of Representatives after four years of Democratic control, it failed to win control of the Senate, instead leaving Democrats with a bigger majority.
In addition, while Republican stars such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Ohio Senate candidate J.D. Vance did very well, other GOP hopefuls — including Senate candidates Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania and Blake Masters in Arizona — were handed big defeats.
The same thing goes for the recounts: Some went the way of the Republicans, while others went in favor of the Democrats.
But the midterm election cycle shows one thing: With the nation divided and the direction of the country at stake, election integrity is more vital than ever.
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