Mediaboss Marketing

Republican tea party activist Konni Burton defeated Democrat Libby Willis for the state Senate seat vacated by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis.

The race was the only close contest among the 15 state Senate seats on Tuesdays ballots. A Republican win would extend the GOP majority, giving the party control of 20 of the 31 state Senate districts.

Although the Texas Senates status quo mostly held Tuesday, there was significant turnover. Four of the six local state senators elected Tuesday are freshmen, including Bob Hall, Van Taylor and Don Huffines. All received tea party backing and are expected to contribute to a more conservative Senate during the next years session.

In those races, the suspense and surprises came during the primaries as tea party Republicans defeated established GOP politicians. The voters in District 10, which covers much of southern Tarrant County and portions of northeast Tarrant County, had to wait until this week.

District 10 has been the Senates only swing district in recent election cycles. Davis won the seat in 2008 from longtime Republican incumbent Kim Brimer and held off a GOP challenger in 2012. In both elections, Davis won by less than 3 percentage points.

In this race, Burton had a solid lead throughout the night. Her margin wavered at times but changed little from her lead after early voting was counted. Her victory would not be as close as Davis wins.

That expectation of a close race attracted the attention of the states top Republican and Democratic donors and made it one of the most expensive races in Texas. More than $4.14 million was donated to the two major party candidates, including many six-figure contributions.

The Burton campaign had blamed GOP losses in District 10 on lackluster campaigns. Burton officials said they believed that Burton, previously a vice president of the NE Tarrant Tea Party, would energize the Republican base.

Luke Macias, a Burton political consultant, said this is a strong response from voters after a 20-month campaign and knocking on 140,000 doors.

We really took our message directly to the voters, he said. We feel like the district has spoken. The result of the campaign is going from one of the most liberal senators that you could have had in Wendy Davis to probably one of the most conservative senators in the state of Texas.

Read the original post:
Tea party activist wins Davis state Senate seat