Democrats Fondly Recall the Historic Republican Gains of the 2002 Midterms…

NPR this morning, on yesterday’s primary elections in Texas:

Driven by anti-President Trump fervor, there were plenty of positive signs for a once-latent Democratic Party in Texas. . . . Democrats fielded a record number of candidates in all 36 congressional districts, and there’s the potential to flip maybe three or more seats come November.

By the early hours of Wednesday, Democratic vote totals neared 1 million, nearly doubling totals from 2014 and reaching a level not seen in a midterm primary for the party since 2002.

2002, you say?  I can’t seem to recall—how did that one turn out for Democrats?

(N. B. even this NPR story also notes, “Republican vote totals exceeded 1.4 million, a modest increase from 2014, nearing a midterm record for the Texas GOP as well.”  NPR has adjusted the headline down from its original optimism—the URL of the article appears to recall being titled “With Rising Voter Turnout, Democrats Hope to Turn Parts of Texas Blue”—to the more modest and even-handed “Texas Primary: Democratic Votes Surge, But Republicans Recover Early Vote Deficit”.)