When Dick Armey upset then-Congressman and then-a-Democrat Tom Vandergriff in 1985 on the powerful coattails of President Ronald Reagan, it sent a signal: 'Burbs across the country were going Republican and going conservative.

Arlington -- at that time among the fastest-growing cities in the country -- was representative of the trend. Pretty soon, every state representative, every state senator, every constable, every justice of the peace serving the community was a Republican, including quite a few who previously said they were Democrats. The exception was Congressman Martin Frost, the Democrat subsequently removed from office by redistricting, leaving no exceptions at all.

But here's a question: Is this particular 21-year love fest between the 'burbs and the GOP over?

Answer: It depends on what kind of suburbs. If we're talking about upscale enclaves like Frisco, Colleyville or even Plano, the answer is simple enough: No.

But when it comes to older, first-tier suburbs like Arlington -- cities in which white flight and an influx of less affluent minorities, blue-collar workers and immigrants are evident -- then here's an educated guess: The GOP love fest for bigger, more mature suburban cities is, if not over, headed for the rocks, with Arlington being a prime example.

The demographics have been rocketing that direction through the 1990s, but the first real clue came in this year's primaries, when Diane Patrick, running as a Republican, parlayed the crossover of several thousand Democrats in the GOP primary into a win over longtime state Rep. Kent Grusendorf.

But know what? Odds are she would have won Tuesday even if she'd signed up as a Democrat.

The second shoe dropped Tuesday when Paula Hightower Pierson, running as a Democrat, knocked off longtime state Rep. Toby Goodman in a district made up of south Arlington and a big chunk of Mansfield.

Clearly, Goodman was targeted by the Democratic state organization as vulnerable: One only need look at the racial diversity and other socioeconomics of his 93rd District to recognize as much.

From this vantage, the changing nature of the district and of Arlington itself was not sufficient at this particular point for Hightower Pierson to win. But she had statewide economic assistance, some help from a blunder or two that Goodman made and a general souring of attitude about both Washington and Austin.

Only some heavy-duty statistical research could verify this, but there's a suspicion that the voter turnout included more than the usual suspects because of items like the senior tax freeze on the ballot, as well as a governor's race that included independents Kinky Friedman and Carole Keeton Strayhorn, attracting voters unhappy with the status quo.

It helped that Hightower Pierson is an excellent grassroots organizer with many contacts.

She ran a heavy-duty campaign with volunteers walking the streets and knocking on doors. The last two weekends that count of door-knocking, phone-calling volunteers swelled to about 40 a day. That's big for a state representative race.

Hightower Pierson took 16 precincts that Bush won in the previous presidential race. That's either a lot of new voters or some major malaise, maybe both.

Add it all up and it equaled the so-called tipping point, collecting enough votes for her to take a race-leading 49.35 percent of the votes, these events being winner-take-all.

What happens next? This will not be an anomaly. Until Tuesday, the in-crowd political circle in Arlington was decidedly Republican. It still is, but Hightower Pierson's win will provide a new in-crowd alternative. It will rejuvenate local Democrat clubs and persuade those of less moderate or even liberal persuasion that they can indeed win local races without flying the GOP banner. More critically, it will inevitably persuade more attractive, high-profile candidates to step forward under the Democrat label.

Already, for instance, there are no doubt potential candidates who are wondering how 25-year-old Christopher Youngblood could manage to spend a couple of hundred dollars, live in Burleson, do virtually nothing -- other than speak at forums -- and still rack up 44 percent of the vote against incumbent Republican Bill Zedler in the 96th District, made up mostly of southwest Arlington and Kennedale. Should it be noted that Zedler raised more than $60,000 for the race?

Clearly, the local political dynamic is changing, the tide beginning to turn. Just how strong that tide will be is yet to be determined, but don't be surprised to see a considerably different set of successful politicos steadily emerge.