Rep. Susan King
Retiring Rep. Jimmie Don Aycock (R-Killeen) and Lampasas Co. Republican Party Chair Skipper Wallace endorsed Rep. Susan King (R-Abilene), who faces Lake Travis ophthalmologist Dawn Buckingham in the runoff. Sen. Troy Fraser (R-Horseshoe Bay) did not seek re-election.
King finished a little under 3K votes ahead of Buckingham in the primary, but Bell and Lampasas Cos. were among her worst finishes.
Buckingham received more than twice as many votes as King in Bell Co., where King finished fourth. In Lampasas Co., King finished in third place, 9 points behind Buckingham, who finished second behind Jon Cobb.
King won Taylor Co. outright with 55% and received a plurality in Bandera (35%), Blanco (23%), Brown (35%), Callahan (46%), Comanche (35%), Hamilton (24%), Kerr (33%) and Mills (31%) Cos. Buckingham received pluralities in Bell (31%), Burnet (26%), Lampasas (27%) and Travis (43%) Cos. Buckingham finished in second place in the district’s four other counties, while King finished third in three of those counties and fourth in the other.
Buckingham enters the runoff having already been endorsed by former three former statewide officials – Susan Combs, Jerry Patterson and Rick Perry – as well as Sen. Don Huffines (R-Dallas) and several conservative and Tea Party groups. Brent Mayes, who finished fourth with 16% of the vote, received the bulk of conservative leader and groups’ endorsements, including Empower Texans/Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, Texas Right to Life and Texas Eagle Forum’s Cathie Adams. King has a career rating of “F” from Empower Texans and a 2015 session rating of “F” from Texas Eagle Forum, but she received a “100%” score from Texas Right to Life last year. As far as we can tell, none of these groups has endorsed for the runoff.
Disclosure: Jeff Blaylock, publisher of Texas Election Source, is a current patient of Dr. Dawn Buckingham.
