Uvalde County voters overwhelmingly to elect Republican candidates after mass shooting

Political analyst had predicted that Democrats might fare better in the area in the aftermath of the horrific school shooting.

Mourners pay their respects after the Uvalde school shooting

By The Center Square Staff

Despite claims by some political analysts that Democrats like gubernatorial candidate Robert “Beto” O’Rourke would carry South Texas, Uvalde County voters overwhelmingly voted to reelect Gov. Gregg Abbott and voted for Republicans on Tuesday.

According to official results, 60.18% of Uvalde County residents voted for Abbott compared to 38.32% who voted for O’Rourke.

They also voted for Republicans primarily across the board, also with similar margins of roughly 60% to 40%. They reelected Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick by 59.41%, Attorney General Ken Paxton by 59.2%, Comptroller Glenn Hegar by 60.17%, Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller by 60.24%, and Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian by 59.46%.

They reelected U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzalez by 60.27% and elected Texas’ new General Land Office commissioner Dawn Buckingham by 58.76%, both Republicans.

They also overwhelmingly voted for Republican state Senate candidate Robert Garza, by a vote of 58.9%, 17 points more than incumbent Democrat Roland Gutierrez – even after Gutierrez introduced legislation for the state to give Robb Elementary victims’ family members $300 million in damages.

However, Gutierrez won his district, which includes the Democratic stronghold of San Antonio, by a vote of 55.4%.

Uvalde County residents also overwhelmingly voted for all Republican judges – for the state Supreme Court, the state Criminal Court of Appeals, and 4th Court of Appeals. They also elected their Justice of the Peace by over 90% and their Republican candidate for state Board of Education by 59%.

The sole Democrats elected in the county were Bill Mitchell for county judge and two county commissioners. A third commissioner’s seat appears to be heading to a runoff.

In the Rio Grande Valley, voters also elected two new Republicans to the state legislature. In Rio Grande City, they reelected state Rep. Ryan Guillen, a longtime Democrat, by over 70% after he switched parties. Earlier this year, he announced he was becoming a Republican because the Democratic Party no longer represented his values.

In Cameron County, Republican Janie Lopez won an open seat in HD-37, defeating her Democratic opponent by roughly 3 points.

Statewide, O’Rourke won only 19 of Texas’ 254 counties. Among them, he underperformed in every county except Kaufman compared to election results in 2018 when he ran against Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and lost.

In counties with a minimum of 10,000 registered voters, Abbott received the greatest percentage of the vote in Callahan County of 90.6%. O’Rourke received the greatest in Travis County of 72.6%.