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TRANSCRIPT
At the end of January, a special election took place for the Texas state senate.
It was won by a double digit margin by a Democrat candidate - unio n machinist and Air Force veteran Taylor Rehmet - which meant the party took control from Republicans for the first time in decades.
“This is significant because I'm a union leader. I come from humble beginnings, and I was able to do this with the trust of the community, the union leaders and union folks that rallied behind me and really believed in what this campaign is about.”
Chairman of the Tarrant County Republican Party, Tim Davis, has called the result a wake-up call for the midterm elections in November that will decide the makeup of federal Congress.
“I think in a lot of ways, this was the first election of the midterm cycle of 2026. And so we get the chance, we get a chance here in Tarrant County, to look at the electorate, look who turned out, look what was important to them and adjust our messaging and our strategy, as we've talked about, as we head towards November. That's a good thing.”
Democrats need to flip only three Republican-held districts in November to gain control of the U.S. House of Representatives, and are hoping elections like this are evidence of strong voter support in their direction.
But they are also battling to hold onto some seats that have traditionally been safe ones.
One of them is the 18th House District in Texas.
Kamala Harris won about 69 percent of the vote in the 2024 presidential election - and another Democrat, Christian Menefee, just won the seat in January in a runoff vote.
“I will not let ya'll down. Let's get to work.”
The seat won by Mr Menefee has been vacant for a year, after the former member, Sylvester Turner, died.
Republican Governor Greg Abbott attracted strong criticism for taking more than eight months to set an all-party primary to fill the seat after Turner's passing - but lately, much of the concern has been around the actual makeup of the electorate.
The District, previously centred around Houston and entirely in Harris County in southeast Texas, has now had its district lines redrawn - and it's been divided among nearly a half-dozen other seats.
Houston Resident Tobin Hellums is one of a number of voters who are furious at the change.
“For me personally, district lines in terms of where I can express my opinion or cast my vote does not matter, right? It's, it's again a political move on part of the current administration to try to narrow the capability of minority voters.”
Juan Lozano from the Associated Press says some voters are not even sure which district they are eligible to cast a ballot in now.
“This is causing concern and confusion among some voters because they are not sure if they still live in the, in the district under the new boundaries or, or if they will have to vote in a new congressional district.”
Houston resident Shampu Sibley says some voters have grown dispirited with everything that's going on.
“The redistricting, the boundaries, and the temperature's so high with the political rhetoric and people, a lot of people really actually checked out.”
Christian Menefee says he's been trying to encourage people to stay engaged - though some - like Kelliyah Kenney in Houston - need little prompting.
“Our representation matters. It matters for me to know if I'm registered in the right areas, especially being a college student. I'm already having to, you know, vote away from home, and so I am now getting accustomed to being registered in Harris County. And so with the new changes coming on, it's very important, in my opinion, for me to be up to date with knowing when new things are happening in my voting areas so that I can get my vote and my voice out.”
Shampu Sibley is also determined to have a say.
“We're not going to say they want to steal elections, but they make it very hard for the Black and brown communities to vote, and that's why it takes people like myself to, regardless of what they do and what they say, at least the only thing that my responsibility is, is make sure that I vote.”
But redistricting is not the only concern now.
In a podcast interview with former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, Donald Trump has repeated his false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him and said his party should take over the electoral process that is currently a state government responsibility, under the U.S. Constitution.
“The Republicans should say 'we want to take over'. We should take over the voting - at least, many, 15 places. The Republicans ought to nationalise the voting.”
President Trump has previously called for mail-in ballots to be outlawed, questioned the security of voting machines, and claimed falsely that millions of non-citizens regularly cast ballots.
Fulton County in Georgia was a central battleground in Mr Trump’s unsuccessful effort that year to remain in power.
And Chairman of its Board of Commissioners, Rob Pitts, says Mr Trump's claims about the 2020 election have been repeatedly shown to be untrue.
“Every audit, every recount, every court ruling has confirmed what we the people of Fulton County already knew. Our elections were fair and accurate and every legal vote was counted. These ongoing efforts are about intimidation and distraction, not facts.”
The chairman's comments - and the President's call to nationalise voting - has come just days after a raid by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on an election office in Fulton County.
They had a warrant to take archived boxes of election records from the 2020 ballot.
Commissioner Mo Ivory Martin says the raid has led to widespread concern that Trump and his supporters could be looking to gain an advantage in the midterms in other ways.
“This is all about November 2026, about the primary on May 19th and then the November election. He does not want the midterm elections to take away his power. So he's trying to create chaos. So this is what he does.”
There are few signs of pushback amongst Republicans, save for Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who says he's not in favou r of federalising elections.
There was also this from House Speaker Mike Johnson.
“It's always been the responsibility of the states to administer elections.”
But most Republicans remaining loyal to the Trump agenda.
There's a push underway by Senate and House conservatives to pass a piece of legislation known as the SAVE Act, which would make it mandatory for voters to present passports or birth certificates to prove their citizenship when registering to vote.
That's despite concerns from Democrats like Chuck Schumer that it would block millions of people from voting.
“It has nothing to do with protecting our elections and everything to do with federalising voter suppression. The SAVE ACT is nothing more than Jim Crow 2.0.”
There are also unconfirmed reports that President Trump is also getting ready to threaten to withhold federal election-related funding to states that resist any new voting measures.
Nothing has yet been confirmed or announced, but Mr Trump has made statements like this.
“Horrible corruption on elections. And the federal government should not allow that. The federal government should get involved.”
Despite downplaying the midterms as something the incumbent party always struggles in, Donald Trump remains keenly aware of the importance of the Republicans keeping their slim majority in Congress.
He's told supporters as much in a speech in a suburb of Des Moines, Iowa this week.
“We got to win the midterms. So remember that. You got to get out and you gotta vote. The midterms are very important. We're going to, we're going to really work hard on winning the midterms.”
Robb Pitts says he still remembers what it was like for workers in Ge orgia after the 2020 election did not go the Republicans' way in the Georgia county.
He says he worries not just about disenfranchisement - but violence.
“After the 2020 elections, Fulton County poll workers endured brutal and targeted harassment and it is imperative that data from the 2020 election not be used to further harass our poll workers who have already endured so much. Fast forward - this year, 2026 elections. This week's activities show that Fulton County is still much a target, and I'm told that I am personally a target. I'm a big boy. Now while we've grown accustomed to name calling and rhetoric, we will not give one inch to those who seek to take control of our elections.”
