Nathaniel Moran was projected to win a third term in the U.S. House on Tuesday, keeping Texas' 1st Congressional District in Republican hands as called the race. With 68.5 percent of the vote at 9 p.m., he had built a lead that left little doubt about the outcome even before all ballots were in.
The result is the latest chapter in a district that stretches across East Texas and serves approximately 776,000 people. Moran faced Yolanda Prince, a SFA and UTA graduate who has worked in university projects as a career, but the race never moved far from the broader partisan line that has defined this seat for years.
Prince ran in a district where a Democrat has not held the seat since Max Sandlin left office in 2005 after being defeated by Louie Gohmert. That history mattered because the 1st Congressional District has been out of reach for Democrats for nearly two decades, and Moran's margin only reinforced how firmly the seat remains anchored on the Republican side.
Early voting helped set that tone before Election Day ended. More than 40 percent of voters cast their ballots early, a record pace for a non-presidential election year, according to the Texas Tribune, and Moran's lead held through the night as the vote continued to be counted.
The unanswered piece is how much of the vote was still out when projected the race. But the shape of the result is already clear: Moran has a third term, Prince fell short, and Texas' 1st Congressional District stays where it has been since 2005.
