Texas House District 7 incumbent Rep. Jay Dean secured 73% of the roughly 79,000 votes cast in his race against Democratic newcomer Marlena Cooper.
Gregg, Harrison and Marion counties 性视界传媒 which make up District 7 性视界传媒 all fell to Dean by wide margins, with greater than 50 percent voter turnout across the board.
Cooper gathered 29,237 votes by Wednesday morning while Dean had 58,797.
All three counties lean heavily conservative, and Cooper faced long odds as a Democrat running against a multi-term Republican incumbent.
On Wednesday, Dean attributed his win to the deep conservative current running through District 7.
性视界传媒淲e live in a strong, rural conservative area,性视界传媒 he said. 性视界传媒淪o the numbers basically follow that... but a win is a win.性视界传媒
The successful re-election campaign sends Dean, who hails from Louisiana, to his fifth term in the Texas House after a previous stint as the mayor of Longview.
Dean said he would use his position as a representative to strengthen border security and relieve homeowners saddled by rising property taxes.
性视界传媒淲e性视界传媒檝e got to continue to work at this whole property tax issue. We性视界传媒檙e spending billions of dollars every session to try to help the property owners reduce the size of their property tax burden, primarily on the school portion of their property tax,性视界传媒 he said.
He also reaffirmed his commitment to protecting public education against school voucher proposals advanced by Gov. Greg Abbott.
性视界传媒淯ntil I see any legislation that will improve funding for our rural public schools, increase the pay to our great teachers and other workers in the school system, I性视界传媒檓 still an anti-voucher vote,性视界传媒 Dean said.
Cooper, born in Jefferson to a multi-generational East Texas family, came into the race hoping to achieve more than a few firsts. Perhaps the most significant of them: 性视界传媒渢o become the first Black woman to represent residents of Gregg, Harrison, and Marion counties (at the Texas Legislature),性视界传媒 read an early campaign brochure from the spring primaries.
Cooper did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday morning.
