The Collin County Elections Department showed that Plesa got 29,538 votes compared to 28,717 for Jolly. Those were the "" results.
District 70 used to include parts of McKinney, but it shifted during redistricting and now covers parts of Plano, Allen and Richardson. The redrawn district is evenly split politically 鈥� a September poll conducted by EMC research shows that President Joe Biden鈥檚 favorability was at 50/50 in the district.
Plesa鈥檚 platform focused on abortion rights, public funding for education, property taxes and healthcare access. She said those issues reach people on both sides of the aisle.
鈥淭hese are the things people care about,鈥� she said.
Abortion access post Roe v. Wade being overturned was a motivating factor for voters. found last month that half of voters say the Supreme Court鈥檚 decision has motivated them to vote 鈥� and more than three-quarters of those voters say they鈥檙e voting for candidates who want to protect abortion access.
Plesa said abortion access is one of the issues she wants to bring up during the legislative session. The Democratic representative spent the past four years working as the legislative director for Texas state house member Ray Lopez from San Antonio. She said her experience and institutional knowledge will benefit her constituents.
鈥淭hey need someone who will be ready on day one,鈥� she said.
Collin County is historically Republican. The county went for Trump in 2020 and every other Republican on the ballot. But Caleb Milne, the Collin County Democratic Party鈥檚 vice chair, said the Republican led Texas legislature didn鈥檛 account for Democratic growth in Collin County like they did in other North Texas counties.
鈥淚n Collin County, they were, for lack of a better term, much more arrogant with how they approached us,鈥� Milne said. 鈥淎nd they tried to create these more even districts all across it instead of creating a true safety valve.鈥�
He said that lack of safety valve gave Democrats an opening.
Abraham George, the chair of the Collin County Republican Party, said prior to the election that Democrats have spent years putting money into Collin County races. But he said he didn鈥檛 expect Democrats to prevail because of the impact of inflation, an issue Jamee Jolly ran on.
鈥淐hristmas is coming,鈥� George said. 鈥淭hanksgiving is coming. People are strapped.鈥�
But Milne said the Republican party no longer represents the values of most Texans.
鈥淲e align much more closely with people now than the Republicans do,鈥� he said.
Official results won鈥檛 be available until all absentee ballots have been counted. Absentee ballots for military voters and U.S. citizens overseas that arrive by Monday Nov. 14 will be counted according to an from the Texas Secretary of State鈥檚 office. Other mail-in ballots must be postmarked on election day to be counted.
Got a tip? Email Caroline Love at clove@kera.org.
Caroline Love is a Report For America corps member for 四虎影院.
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