A win by Biden or Hegar would be a massive gut punch to the GOP. What’s more, even if they came up short thanks to the conservative slant of the state’s less urban parts, they would help bring out Democratic voters in the high-growth suburbs. That, in turn, just might allow Democrats to claim the biggest prize in Texas this year: a majority in the state House of Representatives.

Texas has one of the most gerrymandered congressional maps in the country, drawn by the legislature in 2011 for the exclusive benefit of Republicans. Houston’s political map looks like a snake orgy. In the Austin area, as many as a million progressive voters have been effectively disenfranchised by divvying them up among five Republican districts that spread far into the conservative countryside.

Texas also presents a flashing green light for continued dirty deeds when districts are drawn anew next year. Unlike a number of other states, it has not elected a Democratic governor or approved an anti-gerrymandering ballot measure. Nor has its Supreme Court stepped in to redraw maps.

If Democrats were to eke out a narrow majority in the state House, they’d break the GOP stranglehold and rob Republicans of a large gerrymandering wellspring. That would cause serious soul searching among Republicans.