Democrat Mihaela Pleșa wins new term in Texas District 70, sources differ on count

Texas District 70 result

Democrat Mihaela Pleșa, a Romanian-American politician from Dallas, won another term for District 70 of the Texas House of Representatives in the midterm elections, according to reports published on 4 November 2026. HotNews put her share at 58% of the votes cast, against Republican George Flint with 42%. Libertatea, citing unofficial centralised results published by Collin County election officials, gave her 52.46% and named her opponent as Steve Kinard. ProTV, Mediafax and HotNews all name Flint, so the vote share and the opponent's name are both disputed across the reports. HotNews also described the seat as one in the US Congress, while the other outlets place it in the Texas state legislature.

Career and earlier wins

HotNews reported that Pleșa was born in Dallas to a family of Romanian-Americans and holds a bachelor's degree from the University of North Texas, with postgraduate studies at Southern Methodist University completed in 2012. Before running for office she spent four years as legal affairs director for Democrat Ray Lopez in San Antonio. Her age is also reported differently, as 43 by HotNews and 39 by Libertatea. She first ran for Congress in 2022 and won District 70 with 50.73% against a Republican rival, and she kept the seat in 2024 with 52.22%. Libertatea said her 2022 win made her the first Democrat in nearly 30 years to take a Collin County seat in the Texas House.

202250.73%

202452.22%

2022

50.73 %

2024

52.22 %

Data from the article text

Her message after the vote

Pleșa announced her victory on X and thanked volunteers, supporters and neighbours who helped her win. She said the result belonged to them and wrote that she wanted to carry their voices back to Austin, citing public schools and affordable futures for families.

“Serving you is the honour of my life.”

She also thanked her mother, whom she described as having fled communist Romania in search of freedom. Libertatea reported that the family left Romania in 1969 and 1970, settled first in California, and later moved to the Dallas area. In her post Pleșa also addressed voters who had not yet backed her.

“Whether or not you have given me your vote, or I still have to earn your trust, I am your representative, and my door is open.”

Ionel Roiban loses in Florida

Mediafax reported that Ionel Roiban, a Republican of Romanian origin and a former vice-president of the Popular Movement Party (PMP) in Romania, lost District 90 of the Florida state legislature to Democrat Rob Long. Citing BocaNewsNow, Mediafax put Long at 41,309 votes (62.96%) and Roiban at 24,303 (37.04%), a gap of 17,006 votes. Roiban left PMP in 2023 after disagreeing with the party's direction when it negotiated closer ties with USR and Forța Dreptei.

Rob Long (Democrat)41,309

Ionel Roiban (Republican)24,303

Rob Long (Democrat)

41309 votes

Ionel Roiban (Republican)

24303 votes

Data from the article text

In a 2023 statement to Mediafax, Roiban criticised USR sharply and argued that the party did not belong on the right.

“USR is not a right-wing party. I come from the US, where I was a member of the Republican Party, a conservative. USR is the exponent of globalism and neo-Marxism.”

The reports do not say when official certified totals will be published, and the figures for the Texas race remain the preliminary numbers quoted above.