Note: We will not have percentages for some races, including all statewide races, because of delays in counting Harris Co.’s votes (and some others including Dallas and Tarrant Cos.).
Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D) cruised to their respective party’s nominations, but multiple statewide elected officials were forced into runoffs for the first time since 2002. Runoffs are also in the futures of two members of Congress and at least three state representatives.
Statewide
Abbott (R) received nearly two-thirds of the vote, more than 50 points ahead of his nearest rivals, former state Republican chair Allen West and former Sen. Don Huffines (R-Dallas). O’Rourke cleared the 90% mark, a much stronger showing than his 2018 primary for the U.S. Senate when he was held to 62% of the vote.
Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton’s (R) late ad blitz against former Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman (R) appeared to yield the desired effect, as Paxton will face Land Comm. George P. Bush (R) in the runoff. Railroad Comm. Wayne Christian (R) will face either Sarah Stogner or Tom Slocum Jr., whose race for second place was too close to call with most of Harris Co.’s votes still unreported.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Comptroller Glenn Hegar easily dispatched their primary opponents, and Agriculture Comm. Sid Miller (R) comfortably held off Rep. James White (R-Hillister) by more than 25 points. Sen. Dawn Buckingham’s (R-Lakeway) road to the nomination to head the General Land Office will need a runoff, likely against Tim Westley.
Supreme Court Justice Evan Young and Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Scott Walker were victorious.
On the Democratic side, four races will be settled by runoffs:
- LTGOV: Mike Collier will likely face Rep. Michelle Beckley (D-Carrollton)
- AG: Rochelle Garza will face either Joe Jaworski or Lee Merritt, who were separated by less than a point
- COMP: Janet Dudding will face Angel Vega
- LAND: Sandragrace Martinez will face Jay Kleberg
Susan Hays won the AGRIC nomination, and Luke Warford was unopposed for RRC.
Senate
All incumbents seeking re-election were victorious (Most were unopposed.). It was otherwise a good night for Patrick, whose endorsed candidates fared well. Reps. Phil King (R-Weatherford), Mayes Middleton (R-Wallisville) and Tan Parker (R-Flower Mound), along with Kevin Sparks (R) won their respective nominations outright. Former Sen. Pete Flores’s (R-Pleasanton) comeback will require a runoff against Raul Reyes Jr.
Former Rep. Raul Torres’s (R-Corpus Christi) comeback may have come up short. In the race for SD27 (Lean D), Adam Hinojosa was hovering just over 50%. Should he drop below it, he would face Torres. Rep. Alex Dominguez’s (D-Brownsville) bid for a promotion came up short. Morgan LaMantia will face Sara Stapleton-Barrera in the runoff.
House
Rep. Art Fierro (D-El Paso) was the only incumbent to lose outright, falling to Rep. Claudia Ordaz Perez (D-El Paso), 65%-35%, in the only matchup of paired incumbents. At least three incumbents were forced into runoffs:
- Kyle Kacal (R-College Station) will face Ben Bius in HD12 (Safe R)
- Glenn Rogers (R-Graford) will face Mike Olcott in HD60 (Safe R), and
- Phil Stephenson (R-Wharton) will face Stan Kitzman IN HD85 (Safe R).
Stephenson can blame redistricting for his runoff. He received around 80% of the vote in counties he has represented and around 25% in counties that were added to the district. Similar dynamics may have impacted Kacal and Rogers.
Rep. Stephanie Klick (R-Fort Worth) was just above 50% after Tarrant Co.’s first batch of Election Day results in HD91. If she does not win outright, she would face David Lowe.
Runoffs abound for open seats, though some remain undetermined as of press time (2:30 a.m. CT):
- HD17 R: Stan Gerdes vs. Paul Pape or Tom Glass
- HD19 R: Ellen Troxclair vs. Justin Berry
- HD22 D: Joseph Trahan vs. Manuel Hayes
- HD23 R: Patrick Gurski vs. Terri Leo-Wilson
- HD37 D: Ruben Cortez vs. Luis Villarreal Jr.
- HD52 R: Patrick McGuinness vs. Caroline Harris
- HD61 R: Frederick Frazier vs. Paul Chabot
- HD63 R: Ben Bumgarner vs. Jeff Younger
- HD70 R: Jamee Jolly vs. Eric Bowlin
- HD73 R: Barron Casteel vs. Carrie Isaac
- HD76 D: Suleman Lalani vs. Vanesia Johnson
- HD84 R: David Glasheen vs. Carl Tepper
- HD93 R: Nate Schatzline vs. Laura Hill
- HD100 D: Sandra Crenshaw vs. Venton Jones or Daniel Clayton
- HD114 D: Alexandra Guio and John Bryant led a tightly grouped field
- HD122 R: Elisa Chan vs. Mark Dorazio
- HD133 R: Shelly Barineau and Mano DeAyala were edging ahead of Greg Travis; and
- HD147 D: Jolanda Jones vs. Danielle Keys Bess or Reagan Flowers
Several open-seat candidates won outright including Salman Bhojani (HD92 D), Lulu Flores (HD51 D), Erin Gamez (HD38 D), Josey Garcia (HD124 D), Richard Hayes (HD57 R), Angelia Orr (HD13 R) and Kronda Thimesch (HD65 R).
Congress
U.S. Reps. Henry Cuellar (D-Laredo) and Van Taylor (R-Plano) were forced into runoffs. Cuellar narrowly finished ahead of 2020 challenger Jessica Cisneros after the two traded narrow leads all night, but Cuellar fell short of a majority. The winner of that runoff will meet the winner of the Republican runoff between Cassy Garcia and Sandra Whitten. Taylor hovered above 50% most of the evening until the Election Day vote in Collin Co. slowly pulled him below water. He faces former Collin County Judge Keith Self.
Several open seats were settled tonight. Former Austin council member Greg Casar easily dispatched Rep. Eddie Rodriguez (D-Austin) and former San Antonio council member Rebecca Viagran to win the Democratic nomination for CD35 open (Safe D). Wesley Hunt and Morgan Luttrell each won outright over large fields of candidates for CD38 open (Safe R) and CD8 open (Safe R), respectively. Smith County Judge Nathaniel Moran easily won the CD1 open (Safe R) race to succeed U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Tyler).
Monica De La Cruz-Hernandez won the Republican nomination for CD15 open (Toss Up) and will face the winner of the Democratic runoff. Ruben Ramirez finished first and will face either Michelle Vallejo or John Rigney. In CD30 open (Safe D), Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Dallas) was the runaway leader but appeared to be short of a majority vote. She will face Jane Hope Hamilton.
*As of press time, it appears that numbers from Starr Co., which favored Cuellar, may have been double-counted. If so, then he would still be in a runoff against Cisneros, but not as close to a majority vote.
©2022 Texas Election Source LLC
