An Earthquake in South Texas

To the extent that Democrats are still banking on Latino voters to carry them to durable national majorities, the result in Tuesday’s special election in the Texas 34th congressional district should be an alarm bell. Joe Biden carried TX-34 by four points in 2020; Filemon Vela, the incumbent Democratic congressman, won it by 13.6. But Vela resigned to work for a lobbying firm in March, triggering a special election to finish out his term — and this time, voters in the South Texas district opted for the Republican candidate by more than seven and a half points.