Dem wins special election for Texas House seat

This is a story that has been largely under the radar, but slowly but surely, Texas Democrats are taking back the state house-even after DeLay's dastardly gerrymandering.
Great story from the Burnt Orange Report today about Dan Barrett's victory in Ft. Worth.
www.burntorangereport.com

The GOP margin in the Texas House is now 79-71 thanks to Dan Barrett's victory yesterday and Kirk England switching parties last month in HD-106. The peak of GOP control was 88-62 after the first re-districting for the 2002 elections.

That means that Texas Democrats are only five seats away from taking back the statehouse, and that's before one vote has been cast in 2008.

If the presidential race isn't wrapped up Feb. 5 as many had previously thought, the Texas Primary of March 5 might have even larger implications for progressive candidates.

Anyway, I know that many Kossacks were bummed by the two GOP victories earlier this month in special elections for Congress.

But statehouse victories add up and transform the political landscape sometimes more than Congress.