Tip of the hat to Texas Weekly for an analysis of the 2008 general election stats. They pointed out that turnout in Congressional District 10 – the Austin-to-Houston district in which incumbent Republican Michael McCaul held off Democratic challenger Larry Joe Doherty – had the highest turnout of any Texas Congressional race with 333,083 votes cast.
This dubious honor particularly caught our eye (italics ours): “Larry Joe Doherty, a Democrat, got 143,719 votes while losing to U.S. Rep.Michael McCaul – that’s the most votes collected by any congressional loser this time out. … Nine people who got fewer votes that Doherty in other districts won, and took the oath of office earlier this month.”
This article appears in January 23 • 2009.