Beth Van Duyne, a former Republican mayor and housing official within the Trump administration, on Tuesday defeated Candace Valenzuela, a Democrat,
Beth Van Duyne, a former Republican mayor and housing official within the Trump administration, on Tuesday defeated Candace Valenzuela, a Democrat, in a Home race in suburban Dallas, holding a vital Republican seat as Ms. Van Duyne’s celebration fought so as to add to its numbers in Congress.
Ms. Van Duyne’s win, as known as by The Related Press, was a key victory for Republicans, showing to shut off Democrats’ final hope to select up a seat within the state regardless of what had been forecast as a grim yr for Republicans as shifting demographics have more and more made Texas aggressive. It additionally mirrored the leads to another conservative-leaning suburban districts throughout the nation, the place regardless of indications that many citizens had been alienated by President Trump and his dealing with of the coronavirus pandemic, Republicans gave the impression to be holding their very own and even on monitor to achieve seats.
Ms. Van Duyne, who served within the Trump administration’s Division of Housing and City Improvement, was beforehand the mayor of Irving, Tex., the primary lady to carry that submit. She drew nationwide consideration when she was among the many officers sued by the household of a Muslim teenager arrested after his selfmade digital clock was mistaken for a bomb. (The go well with was later dismissed.)
She later emerged as a part of a self-branded four-woman “conservative squad,” who styled themselves as the fitting’s reply to 4 liberal girls who grew to become political celebrities within the 2018 Democratic freshman class, together with Consultant Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. She is now slated to be a part of the most important group of Home Republican girls ever elected to Congress in the identical yr, clearing the earlier document of 25 girls.
Ms. Van Duyne aligned herself intently with Mr. Trump and defended his dealing with of the pandemic, and her former boss at HUD, Ben Carson, helped foyer for her within the remaining days of the marketing campaign.
“Persons are sick and bored with Congress taking part in political video games and simply specializing in attacking one another,” Ms. Van Duyne mentioned in response to questions from The Dallas Morning Information that she posted on her web site. “I promise to be a voice in Congress that’s all the time targeted on getting issues achieved to assist us develop and create extra alternatives.”
Ms. Valenzuela, a former college board trustee, had sought to flip the seat for Democrats and turn into the primary Afro-Latina to be elected to Congress. The seat was left open after Consultant Kenny Marchant, a dependable Republican vote who gained re-election in 2018 by simply three factors, mentioned in the summertime of 2019 that he would retire moderately than face Ms. Valenzuela.
Ms. Valenzuela had galvanized supporters together with her highly effective account of surviving homelessness and changing into the primary in her household to graduate school, and relied closely on the technique that Democrats employed each in 2018 and this yr, centering her marketing campaign on defending the Reasonably priced Care Act and criticizing the administration’s response to the pandemic.
She sought to tie Ms. Van Duyne, who was usually photographed with out a masks whereas campaigning, to Mr. Trump and his mismanagement of the coronavirus. Ms. Van Duyne, for her half, criticized Ms. Valenzuela for not holding in-person occasions through the pandemic, at the same time as coronavirus instances continued to spike within the state.