In a competitive State House race in Houston, the choice between Democrat Mary Ann Perez and Republican Rep. Gilbert Peña couldn't be any clearer.

And importantly, we can’t stress enough how much every vote in this district matters. Peña won his seat in 2014 by only 152 votes.

Mary Ann Perez, endorsed by the Houston Chronicle, is an advocate for tuition-free community college, job training for Houston's energy community, and increased funding for children in public school.

[[{"fid":"2720","view_mode":"default","fields":{"format":"default","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Gilbert Pena Report Card","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Gilbert Pena Report Card"},"type":"media","attributes":{"alt":"Gilbert Pena Report Card","title":"Gilbert Pena Report Card","style":"width: 450px; height: 450px;","class":"media-element file-default"}}]]

Meanwhile her opponent, Peña, is an over-the-top Republican who can't be trusted -- much like his fellow Republican, Donald Trump. It got so bad last session that Peña was branded a "loser" who pushed anti-LGBTQ legislation that was called "a waste of time" by the Houston Press.

While most Republican candidates in local races remained publicly quiet Monday about Trump - even those who have endorsed him - political scientists and consultants for both parties predicted the GOP could perhaps lose up to a dozen state House races and even top Houston offices like district attorney, sheriff and tax assessor, plus several judgeships.

 

"The epicenter of Trump's down-ballot collateral damage could well be Harris County," said Rice University political scientist Mark Jones. "Depending on the turnout, Democrats could sweep Harris County completely or almost completely."

[[{"fid":"2713","view_mode":"default","fields":{"format":"default","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Go Vote Texas","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"Go Vote Texas"},"type":"media","attributes":{"alt":"Go Vote Texas","title":"Go Vote Texas","height":"90","width":"728","style":"width: 550px; height: 68px;","class":"media-element file-default"}}]]