Do elections even matter in Texas politics now?
Fort Worth state Sen. Taylor Rehmet takes the oath of office in the Texas Senate chamber on Feb. 19, 2026.Most Americans, and most Texans, are exhausted by the way our political leaders practice politics.
The mean-spirited, zero-sum world they live in is not the world normal people want. But the structure of our political and media systems now are such that our politics no longer matches who most of us are.not to award any committee assignment to state Sen. Taylor Rehmet, a Democrat who won a special election for Senate District 9 in Tarrant County.was a bolt of lightning in Texas. While many Democrats are fairly tempted to see it as an embrace of their party, we saw it much differently.Rehmet comes across as a normal guy, a working man who supports organized labor but who doesn’t dwell on the fringe cultural issues that grab so many of the left. We hope he stays that way., his GOP opponent in the special election whom he will face again in November, is a MAGA candidate who plays to the hardest right base, with little to no space for people who see the world differently.Our view is that a majority of voters in Tarrant County took a look at the two of them and went with the person they saw as more like them. To Patrick, that was unacceptable. Now, he is refusing to acknowledge the will of the electorate in that county in the belief that it will be erased in November. He might be right that the GOP base will surge to Wambsganss’ rescue in November. We are less sure. More and more people, including deep conservatives, are looking at the way leaders like Patrick do business and deciding it isn’t decent. Either way, Rehmet and his constituents have a right for him to be assigned to committees in the interim period. He should be able to do his job. And were the circumstances reversed, and a Republican were elected in a Senate controlled by Democrats, that Republican would have the same right.We can’t help but believe Patrick would howl to the heavens were the same thing done in reverse. But in today’s politics, treating others as we would have them treat us is not a rule to live by. It’s a big part of why so many of us are so fed up. We see our leaders always put their interests and their party’s interests above tradition, above the will of the electorate and beyond what normal, decent people would do in the same situation. It’s not just bad politics. It’s bad morals. It’s unethical. It isn’t limited to the left or right. It is baked into our system now.Dallas Morning News editorials are written by the paper's Editorial Board and serve as the voice and view of the paper. The board considers a broad range of topics and is overseen by the Editorial Page Editor.
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