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HOUSTON (FOX 26) - It's the end of an era in west Houston as Democratic candidate Lizzie Pannill Fletcher unseats Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. John Culberson to win the Texas Congressional District 7, flipping a Houston House district that has been GOP-controlled since first sending George H.W. Bush to Congress 50-plus years ago.
Fletcher is a prominent corporate attorney and outspoken defender of abortion rights who argued that President Donald Trump was trying to hurt advances in women's equality.
She was backed by national Democratic groups, while GOP organizations and a visit by Vice President Mike Pence tried to save Culberson.
Culberson had represented the wealthy and well-educated district since 2001 but has seen its demographics shift to become less white and more heavily Hispanic and black.
Democrats hope a wave election nationally can help them pick up 23 seats and retake the House.
Fletcher's victory marks the party's second pickup in deep-red Texas.