Eliz Markowitz
No change in the make up of the Texas House of Representatives happened as a result of three special elections held on Tuesday, Jan. 28. Two Democratic seats were retained by Democrats and one Republican seat was retained by a Republican.
In Dallas, Lorraine Birabil drew 66 percent of the vote against a fellow Democrat to fill the District 100 seat left vacant when Eric Johnson was elected Dallas mayor last June. Birabil was the endorsed choice of Stonewall Democrats of Dallas.
In Houston’s District 148, Democrat Anna Eastman won 65 percent of the vote against a Republican challenger. They were running to replace Democrat Jessica Farrar who resigned her seat last fall.
In a second Houston race, Democrat Eliz Markowitz was trying to flip a seat but only received 42 percent of the vote with heavy turnout for a special election runoff. Among those stumping for her were Beto O’Rourke and Michael Bloomberg. The winner is Gary Gates and Gates and Markowitz will face off again in November. Had she been elected, Markowitz would have become the sixth LGBTQ member of the Texas Legislature.
— David Taffet
