Adam Hinojosa flips Texas Senate seat, becomes first Republican to represent Rio Grande Valley district since Reconstruction

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Adam Hinojosa has defeated state Sen. Morgan LaMantia in South Texas, tightening Republicans’ hold on the Texas Senate by winning a Senate district in the Rio Grande Valley for the first time since Reconstruction.

Hinojosa’s win in Senate District 27 flips the only competitive seat in the Texas Senate this cycle, besting LaMantia two years after he came within 659 votes of defeating the Palm Valley Democrat in their first bout.

Hinojosa declared victory just before midnight, fleshing out a night of Republican gains — and holds — in South Texas.

“The election results in our district are nothing short of historic,” Hinojosa said in a statement. “Our campaign has changed the balance of power in South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley.”

LaMantia thanked her supporters in a statement Wednesday afternoon, shortly before The Associated Press called the race for Hinojosa.

“We fought hard, and while voters have chosen a different path, our vision endures,” LaMantia said. “This outcome will shape our region, but my faith remains in the strength, resilience and heart of District 27 to keep pushing for the progress we deserve.”

Hinojosa will be the first Republican to represent any part of the Rio Grande Valley in the Texas Senate since 1874.

The win is also a victory for Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the Republican who has presided over the Senate for a decade and has shaped the chamber’s composition and role as a conservative force.

“His election is historic and ushers in a new era of Republican representation in South Texas and in the Valley,” Patrick said in a statement welcoming Hinojosa to the Senate.

Hinojosa, an entrepreneur with several small businesses, campaigned on the economy, border security and “stopping the sexualization of our children.” Despite Democrats considering abortion a winning issue for them, Hinojosa embraced being “100% pro-life.”

“The people of this district have rejected the woke absurdity of the left — open borders, boys playing girls sports, sex change operations and fiscal insanity,” Hinojosa said in his victory statement.

LaMantia beat Hinojosa in 2022 to succeed state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., a conservative Democrat from Brownsville who established himself as a bipartisan defender of the Rio Grande Valley during his more than 30 years in the Senate.

Lucio, an anti-abortion Democrat, endorsed LaMantia during that year’s Democratic primary but endorsed Hinojosa last month, citing his alignment with Hinojosa on abortion issues. His son, former state Rep. Eddie Lucio III, a more progressive Democrat, endorsed LaMantia.

Hinojosa’s victory also marks the first time since the 1970s that Brownsville and Cameron County have been represented by a senator hailing from Corpus Christi.

SD 27 spans the South Texas Gulf Coast from Brownsville to Corpus Christi, extending from San Patricio County to the southern border in Cameron County and part of Hidalgo County.

Democrats have historically controlled the Rio Grande Valley, but redistricting made SD 27 less safe for Democrats in 2022, changing it from a district that President Joe Biden won by 16 percentage points to one he would have carried by 6 points in 2020. LaMantia scored a two-year term last year during a lot-drawing necessitated by the recent redistricting.

Hispanic voters have been increasingly voting for Republicans, a trend the party tried to capitalize on in 2022. Early indications from the 2024 election show that former President Donald Trump grew his support among Latinos.

Hinojosa received broad support among Republicans and Republican groups. Trump endorsed him, as did Gov. Greg Abbott, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and U.S. Sen. Mike Lee of Utah. Texans for Lawsuit Reform, a tort reform group and a top donor in Texas Republican politics, was the top contributor to his campaign, giving at least $600,000 since August. Texans United for a Conservative Majority, the PAC primarily funded by far-right West Texas billionaires Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks, contributed at least $463,000.

Earlier this year, Patrick launched the Texas Senate Leadership Fund, a PAC formed “in order to ensure the resources to support the mission of the conservative majority in the Texas Senate.” The PAC spent at least $300,000 supporting Hinojosa beginning in late October.

Hinojosa, who was endorsed by Trump and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, accused LaMantia of supporting “overreaching regulations” on the oil and gas industry. And in a rare move for Republicans this cycle, he embraced the abortion conversation, first with Lucio’s endorsement and later highlighting legislation LaMantia authored regarding funding for women’s health services.