A candidate for Texas’ state legislature who’d said the seat was preordained for her by God has lost in a landslide.
Bianca Gracia, a pro-Trump Republican and first-time candidate for office, ran in the GOP primary to represent District 11 in Texas’ State Senate. Last month, she told the conservative podcast The Mc Files that she’d just met with a group of pastors, and hectored them to vote for her or face God’s wrath.
“If you do not show up, then you will be held accountable, because I have been appointed and assigned for this position, and God is testing you all,” Ms Gracia said she told the ministers. “So you’re going to either have to show up and show out, or you’re going to have to deal with the Lord.”
The voters of District 11 apparently didn’t get the message. On Tuesday, they gave Ms Gracia’s opponent, State Rep Mayes Middleton, a whopping 62.6 per cent of the vote. Ms Gracia came in fourth place, with just 7.5 per cent.
The District 11 seat is uncontested by any Democrats, giving Mr Middleton a clear path to become its next state senator.
But on her social media accounts, Ms Gracia did not appear to concede the race. After election day, her tweets abruptly shifted from “GET OUT & VOTE” messages to accusations of election fraud.
“FIVE voting locations went down in Harris County, which is my home district,” Ms Gracia tweeted. “Get this…it was not done by Democrats! The Republican elite did it! STAY TUNED!”
Local news stations have reported that some machines in Harris County did have technical difficulties, but were eventually fixed. There is no evidence that Republicans orchestrated the problems.
As a candidate, Ms Gracia billed herself as a pro-Trump Christian conservative, and her website lists her MAGA credentials. She says she co-founded the Latino Trump Coalition, served as president of the Latinos for Trump Organization, directed the Latinos for America First PAC, and has appeared on Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast.
Like Donald Trump, she is persistently challenging her election defeat.
“We will NOT stop fighting for Texas!” she wrote on Thursday, shortly before tweeting more fraud accusations.
The Independent has reached out to Ms Gracia’s campaign for comment.
