As runoff elections go, it was a pretty good night to be an incumbent, or a former incumbent. Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton (R) and Railroad Comm. Wayne Christian (R) easily turned aside their challengers to secure nominations for a third and second term, respectively. Paxton routed Land Comm. George P. Bush (R), 68%-32%, and Christian turned away Sarah Stogner (R), 65%-35%.
Bush won only five counties, three of which had 50 or fewer voters. Bush carried Kenedy Co., five votes to one; Loving Co., five votes to two; Sterling Co., 29 votes to 21; Starr Co., 181 votes to 146; and Travis Co., 53%-47%. Paxton carried the other 249 counties. Paxton will face Rochelle Garza (D), who prevailed over Joe Jaworski (D), 63%-37%.
In the LAND open (Likely R) runoffs, Sen. Dawn Buckingham (R-Lakeway) defeated Tim Westley, 69%-31%. She will face Jay Kleberg (D), who defeated Sandragrace Martinez, 53%-47%, in the closest statewide race of the day. Mike Collier (D) defeated Rep. Michelle Beckley (D-Carrollton), 55%-45%, to win a second straight nomination for LTGOV (Lean R). Janet Dudding (D) defeated Ángel Luis Vega, 61%-39%, to win the nomination for COMP (Likely R).
Three of the four legislative incumbents forced into runoffs prevailed, bucking recent history. Prior to tonight (Tues.), just one incumbent in the last 26 years won a runoff after finishing first in the primary by fewer than 10 percentage points over the second-place candidate. All three victorious incumbents did it this year:
- Kyle Kacal (R-College Station) won five out of six counties to defeat Ben Bius, 58%-42%, in HD12 (Safe R)
- Stephanie Klick (R-Fort Worth) defeated David Lowe, 54%-46%, in HD91 (Likely R); and
- Glenn Rogers (R-Graford) defeated Mike Olcott by 752 votes, 52%-48%, in HD60 (Safe R).
Rep. Phil Stephenson (R-Wharton) fell to Stan Kitzman (R), 58%-42%, as the challenger carried the four counties that were added to HD85 (Safe R) during redistricting, 65%-35%.
Technically, a fifth state legislator was facing a runoff tonight, but she wasn’t a legislator yet when the primary happened. Jolanda Jones was leading Danielle Keys Bess, 53%-47%, with 91% of vote centers reporting in a rematch of a May 7 special election for HD147 (Safe D).
In one of the state’s closest and most-watched races, U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Laredo) appeared to defeat Jessica Cisneros (D) by 177 votes, 50.2%-49.8%, in their rematch for CD28 (Lean D). If his lead holds, Cuellar will face Cassy Garcia, who defeated Sandra Whitten, 57%-43%. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Dallas) won the Democratic nomination for CD30 open (Safe D), 60%-40%, over Jane Hope Hamilton.
As of press time (12:30 a.m.), Dallas and Harris Cos. were not fully reported.
SD24 open (Likely R): Former Sen. Pete Flores (R-Pleasanton) defeated Raul Reyes Jr., 59%-41%, to bring him one step closer to returning to the Senate.
SD27 open (Lean D): Morgan LaMantia (D) defeated Sara Stapleton-Barrera (D), 57%-43%.
HD17 open (Safe R): Stan Gerdes (R) defeated Paul Pape (R), 51%-49%, thanks to winning 55% of the vote in Bastrop Co., where Pape has been County Judge since 2013.
HD19 open (Safe R): Ellen Troxclair (R) defeated Justin Berry (R), 56%-44%, winning all five counties in the district.
HD22 open (Likely D): Manuel Hayes (D) defeated Paul Trahan (D), 51%-49%, after receiving 55% of the Election Day vote.
HD23 open (Likely R): Terri Leo-Wilson (R) defeated Patrick Gurski (R), 58%-42%. She received almost identical percentages in Chambers (57.6%) and Galveston (57.8%) Cos.
HD37 open (Lean D): Luis Villarreal Jr. (D) defeated Ruben Cortez (D), 52%-48%.
HD52 open (Lean R): Caroline Harris (R) defeated Patrick McGuinness (R), 50.6%-49.4%, after taking 52% of the Election Day vote.
HD61 open (Likely R): Frederick Frazier (R) defeated Paul Chabot (R), 64%-36%.
HD63 open (Likely R): Ben Bumgarner (R) defeated Jeff Younger (R), 62%-38%.
HD70 open (Toss Up): Jamee Jolly (R) defeated Eric Bowlin (R), 52%-48%. On the Democratic side, Mihaela Plesa defeated Cassandra Gracia Hernandez, 55%-45%.
HD73 open (Safe R): Carrie Isaac (R) defeated Barron Casteel (R), 50.6%-49.4%, a margin of 284 votes. Isaac received 53% of the Election Day vote.
HD76 open (Likely D): Suleman Lalani (D) defeated Vanesia Johnson (D), 63%-37%.
HD84 open (Likely R): Carl Tepper (R) defeated David Glasheen (R), 59%-41%.
HD93 open (Likely R): Nate Schatzline (R) defeated Laura Hill (R), 65%-35%.
HD100 open (Safe D): Venton Jones (D) defeated Sandra Crenshaw (D). His lead was 68%-32% with 87% of vote centers reporting.
HD114 open (Safe D): Former Rep. and U.S. Rep. John Bryant (D-Dallas) defeated Alexandra Guio. His lead was 57%-43% with 87% of vote centers reporting.
HD122 open (Likely R): Mark Dorazio (R) defeated Elisa Chan (R), 55%-45%.
HD133 open (Likely R): Mano DeAyala (R) leads Shelley Barineau (R), 51%-49%, a margin of 240 votes, with 80% of precincts reporting.
CD15 open (Toss Up): Michelle Vallejo (D) appeared to defeat Ruben Ramirez (D) by 23 votes, 50.1%-49.9%.
Bexar Co.: In the Democratic runoff for County Judge, Peter Sakai defeated Rep. Ina Minjarez (D-San Antonio), 58%-42%,
Tarrant Co.: In the Republican runoff for District Attorney, Phil Sorrells defeated Rep. Matt Krause (R-Fort Worth), 59%-41%.
