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Republican Chip Roy defeats Democrat Wendy Davis in race for US House D-21

Despite Davis having the benefit of a bigger war chest in the campaign, District 21 continues to be a GOP stronghold.

SAN ANTONIO — The race for U.S. House District 21 was a close affair between Democrat Wendy Davis and Republican Chip Roy, but the Associated Press called the race for the incumbent Roy just after 1 a.m. Wednesday. 

Roy ended up with 52% of the vote overall, with all relevant Texas precincts reporting. His opponent garnered 45% of nearly 449,000 votes submitted. 

The result continues historical voting trends for the district, which hasn't gone blue since voting for Bob Krueger in 1974. Even Democrat-leaning Bexar County lent its support to Roy, who carried 50% of the county's vote to Davis's 47%.

It was in July 2019 that Davis, a former member of the Texas Senate, announced she would be running for the opportunity to challenge Roy as the Republican seeks a second term representing District 21 in the U.S. House. The district spans more than 5,900 square miles of Hill Country to the north and northwest of San Antonio, including Kerrville, Boerne and Fredericksburg.

In the spring primary, Davis, who led an unsuccessful campaign for the Texas governorship in 2014, handily defeated her opponent with 84% of the vote. Roy, who over the summer called on Bexar County's Republican chair to step down after she floated a conspiracy theory about George Floyd's death, ran unopposed. 

Despite being the Democratic challenger in a historically red-leaning district, Davis had the benefit of a bigger war chest in the campaign; according to Ballotpedia, she amassed $7.92 million to her opponent's $4.57 million. 

Davis ran on a platform of increased pay for teachers, comprehensive immigration reform, universal background checks during gun sales and illegalization of military-grade firearms. Roy's platform called for reforming Medicaid, reducing government spending and lessening the power of judges. 

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