Angst at Donald Trump boosting Democrats in Texas Legislature races

Attendees cheer and wave signs during the speech by Texas gubernatorial candidate Lupe Valdez at the Texas Democratic Convention Friday, June 22, 2018, in Fort Worth, Texas. (AP Photo/Richard W. Rodriguez) Attendees cheer and wave signs during the speech by Texas gubernatorial candidate Lupe Valdez at the Texas Democratic Convention Friday, June 22, 2018, in Fort Worth, Texas. (AP Photo/Richard W. Rodriguez) Photo: Richard W. Rodriguez, FRE / Associated Press Photo: Richard W. Rodriguez, FRE / Associated Press Image 1 of / 21 Caption Close Angst at Donald Trump boosting Democrats in Texas Legislature races 1 / 21 Back to Gallery

FORT WORTH — A new career in politics wasn’t in Katherine Turner-Pearson’s plan.

“I never thought I would run for office,” said the 59-year-old Waco archaeologist, who is running for a seat in the Texas House. “But after the last presidential election, I knew it was time for people like me to do something and not just leave it to others.”

She is one of dozens of women in a stable of new Democratic candidates spurring bold predictions from the party that they can win enough seats to sway the state Legislature to work as a more effective brake against socially conservative Republicans.

Their entry into state politics comes at a critical time. Tea Party Republicans are wrestling for greater control of the Texas House, where they have touted the so-called bathroom bill, promised to impose restrictions on abortion and celebrated harsher immigration laws.

Texas Democratic Party chairman Gilberto Hinojosa said when his party went out recruiting candidates this cycle they found a lot of women like Turner-Pearson, who are making up the backbone of what many hope will be a blue wave this November. While President Donald Trump has spurred more women to run for the U.S. Congress, he’s also a big reason so man are running for the Texas Legislature.

“We found out that the women of this state made a decision they were going to step up and run for House seats, Senate seats and Congress,” Hinojosa said during the Texas Democrats three-day convention in Fort Worth. Those women will win a bunch of those seats, he predicted.

In fact, 62 of the 138 Democrats running for the state Legislature are women. Fueled by marches and the #MeToo movement, Democrats are lauding the spike of women running and breaking down barriers in a male-dominated government.

The gulf is wide. Only 29 women currently serve in the 150-member Texas House, although more than half of the state’s population is female. Twenty-one of them are Democrats.

In the 31-member Senate, eight members are women, six of them Democrats.

The party has identified 20 Republican House districts that Hillary Clinton carried in the 2016 election cycle or lost by less than 9 percentage points. If the party were to win all 20, Hinojosa said that would give the Democrats the majority — the best way to block legislation they oppose.

Winning all 20 is a steep task, but Hinojosa said Democrats faced tougher odds in Virginia last year and still won.

Republicans hold a dominating edge in both the Texas House and Senate, and have for a decade. In the House, Republicans have 95 seats to Democrats’ 55. In the Senate, Republicans hold 20 seats to just 11 for Democrats.

Every two years, Democrats gather for their state convention with high hopes of making Texas a little less red. And every year they make bold predictions that rarely come true.

Not everyone is convinced Democrats can get to 20 wins in the House. Many say even narrowing the margins in the House and the Senate will give Democrats enough power to use more procedural tools to block legislation.

Five to six districts are “definitely doable,” said Leticia Van de Putte, a former legislator who ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 2014. If Democrats have a particularly good year, she said they can grab eight to 10 districts.

“It just means a little bit more of a balance,” Van de Putte said. “It means things like the bathroom bill, if it’s reintroduced again, it will have a tougher time getting through. It means school vouchers are probably adiós. It means that they won’t be able to pass something like an SB4,” which gave law enforcement broad authority to question the immigration status of people detained and forced local authorities to honor federal immigration detainer requests.

Several of the House seats Democrats are eyeing are in or around Houston. Clinton out-performed Trump in 2016 in State District 134, held by State Rep. Sarah Davis, and State District 138 held by Rep. Dwayne Bohac.

Clinton was within 5 percentage points of winning in three other districts — State District 135 held by Rep. Gary Elkins, District 26 held by Rep. Rick Miller, and State District 132 held by Rep. Mike Schofield.

The Texas House is facing a crossroads. House Speaker Joe Straus, a San Antonio Republican who routinely worked against the more socially conservative bills from the Senate, is leaving the Legislature in January. Tea Party Republicans, who want to take state government in a more socially conservative direction, are vowing to replace him with a leader who will support their priorities.

With more seats, Democrats can help stop that, even if they can’t win the majority, said former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro.

“We want to make sure there is a speaker that will work with both sides and not a far right wing Tea Party Republican that is going to let the worst pieces of legislation go through,” Castro said.

State Rep. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston, said voters need to understand there is more to politics than just Washington.

“We need to transfer that energy from the federal level all the way down the ballot,” she said.

jeremy.wallace@chron.com

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andrea.zelinski@chron.com

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