The Republican Party now holds enough seats in the Texas House of Representatives to conduct business without a single Democrat present. That’s because enough Democratic lawmakers have defected to provide the GOP with 101 seats out of 150 seats total.
The latest such defection was Aaron Pena, a longtime Democrat who represents a Hispanic district that has never elected a Republican lawmaker. The 51-year-old was first elected in 2002 and is currently serving his fourth term.


by Stephan Tawney on December 14, 2010