Texas GOP races to shore up the suburbs for 2020

House Republicans like Olson, who defeated Democrat Sri Preston Kulkarni by fewer than 14,000 votes in a fast-changing slice of the Houston suburbs last year, say they have gotten the message too. Campaigns are mirroring the state party’s early staffing,

“We plan on it being more a retail race,” said Melissa Kelly, Olson’s chief of staff, who added that Olson plans on being even more active in the diversifying community, attending events like Chinese New Year and Cinco de Mayo celebrations.

“He’s definitely preparing for it to be a more challenging environment,” Kelly said.

Olson’s race is one of six congressional races in Texas that the national Democrats already are targeting in 2020. With the exception of Hurd’s district, which takes in a massive swath of West Texas along the Mexican border, all are contained in fast-growing, rapidly diversifying suburban districts outside cities like Austin, Houston, San Antonio and Fort Worth.