Election Night Brings Upsets, Surprises, and Indicates Big Changes are Coming in November

Tuesday evening brought us yet another election night for the year. Numerous primary contests will be held between now and the midterm general election on November 8, 2022.

Until then, political prognosticators and elections analysts will be looking over every election to try and get a sense of what the most likely result of November’s midterms will be.

Last night, we turned over one more tea leaf.

In a special election in South Texas, Republican Mayra Flores flipped a Democrat seat in Texas 34th District.

According to the results with 99% of the vote in, Flores beat her competitor, Dan Sanchez, 51% – 43.3%.

After her victory, Flores became the first Republican to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from the Rio Grande Valley in 151 years – the first since 1871.

In 2012, former President Barack Obama won Texas’ 34th Congressional District by 23%. In 2016, Democrat presidential nominee Hillary Clinton won the district by 22%. And in 2022, President Joe Biden won the district by 4%.

Flores will be the first Congresswoman to have been born in Mexico.

In her victory speech, Flores said that her campaign “took no one for granted. For over 100 years, we have been taken for granted. I will show you what real representation looks like. I will represent all people.”

Sanchez, after conceding the race, said, “Based on the results, we came up short tonight despite being outspent by millions of dollars … Too many factors were against us.”

This led enigmatic billionaire Elon Musk to tweet, “I voted for Mayra Flores – first time I ever voted Republican. Massive red wave in 2022.”

Political analysts with the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics said that last night’s elections result in the district was “an indication that the big shift toward Republicans that we saw in South Texas in 2020 is enduring and even sharpening down-ballot.”

According to The Washington Examiner, special elections held in midterm election cycles tend to be indicators of how the year’s general election will play out.

“In midterm election cycles, these contests have often been trendsetters, even if just in the short term,” the Examiner notes.

Several other elections were also held yesterday, including two Republican primary elections in South Carolina.

In the Palmetto State, House Representative Nancy Mace beat out Katie Arrington, who former President Donald Trump had endorsed, in the state’s 1st Congressional District.

Additionally, incumbent House Representative Tom Rice lost to Trump-endorsed state representative Russell Fry in South Carolina’s 7th Congressional District.

After the 2014 midterm elections, former President Barack Obama famously said, “Elections have consequences.” He was exactly right.

Every two years, Americans go to polls and, by supporting or opposing various candidates and ballot measures, influence the direction of our nation, states, and cities.

For Christians who care deeply about the protection of preborn life, the promotion of religious liberty, and the defense of children from inappropriate sexual education and gender ideology, elections matter. Voting is one way we can influence our society for the better and bend the arc of history in a more moral and just direction.

Are you registered to vote this November?

If you’re worried about the direction of our nation, and what to help influence the outcome of the November midterm elections, check out My Faith Votes’ new “Write Now” campaign. The effort aims to engage and encourage Christians to vote this November by sending Christian voters in key battleground states handwritten postcards and letters.

You can learn more about the “Write Now” campaign by clicking here.