In 1994, five Democrats were elected to statewide offices, including the Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General and Comptroller.
Since then, Republicans have managed to shut out Democratic candidates.
That includes four wins in a row for Rick Perry, one as Lieutenant Governor in 1998 and three as Governor. In Perry's case, he's never lost an election, either as a Democrat or as a Republican. But are Perry and the Texas GOP becoming victims of their own success?
Mimi Swartz writes in the November issue of Texas Monthly magazine that it's a possibility. And she notes that political observers could even circle a date on the calendar as the starting point for the end of Republican dominance in statewide elections.
The shift in the atmospheric pressure that took place on the evening of September 22 could be felt all the way from Orlando to Austin. That was the night Governor Rick Perry had his near-death debate experience, the moment at which the air began to leak out of his 27-year political winning streak. In a matter of hours, the longest-serving and most powerful governor in Texas history was revealed to be, well, mortal.
You can read more of Swartz's column here.
