Primary Runoff Results Edition…
After the March Primary election, 22 party primary races remained unsettled—16 Republican and 6 Democratic. Last night (most of) that was settled, as two Texas House races are likely to have a recount. New faces will replace retiring elected officials and two will fill the seats of ousted incumbents.
Voter turnout in Texas remains low, particularly in runoff elections. 46,789 voted in the Republican Party Primary Runoff and 19,725 voted in the Democratic Party Primary Runoff. Those totals include early voters.
U.S. House-District 15 (Rio Grande Valley; Democratic and Republican Primary Runoff): Vicente Gonzalez defeated Juan “Sonny” Palacios, Jr. with 65.7% of the vote in the Democratic Primary. Tim Westley defeated Ruben Villarreal with 51.6% of the vote in the Republican Primary. Gonzalez and Westley will face off in November to replace retiring Democratic U.S. Rep. Ruben Hinojosa.
U.S. House-District 18 (Houston; Republican Primary Runoff): Lori Bartley defeated Reggie Gonzales with 57.8% of the vote and will challenge incumbent Sheila Jackson Lee (Houston) in November.
U.S. House-District 19 (West Texas; Republican Primary Runoff): Jodey Arrington defeated Glen Robertson with 53.7% of the vote and will succeed retiring Republican U.S. Rep. Randy Neugebauer (Lubbock). No Democrats are running.
Court of Criminal Appeals-Place 2 (Republican Primary Runoff): Mary Lou Keel defeated Ray Wheless with 51% of the vote and will face incumbent Judge Larry Meyers in November.
Court of Criminal Appeals-Place 5 (Republican Primary Runoff): Scott Walker defeated Brent Webster with 57.9% of the vote and will face Democrat Betsy Johnson in November.
Railroad Commission (Statewide-Republican and Democratic Primary Runoff): Republican Wayne Christian defeated Gary Gates with 50.9% of the vote. Democrat Grady Yarbrough defeated Cody Garrett with 53.9% of the vote and will face Christian in November.
Texas Senate-District 1 (Northeast Texas; Republican Primary Runoff): Bryan Hughes (Mineola) defeated David Simpson (Longview) with 69.3% of the vote, and will succeed retiring Republican Sen. Kevin Eltife. No Democrats are running.
Texas Senate-District 24 (24 counties in Central Texas; Republican Primary Runoff): Dr. Dawn Buckingham (Lakeway) defeated Susan King (Abilene) with 61.3% of the vote, and will face Democrat Virginia “Jennie Lou” Leeder in November to replace retiring Republican Sen. Troy Fraser (Horseshoe Bay). This is a solid Republican seat.
Texas House-District 5 (Northeast Texas; Republican Primary Runoff): Cole Hefner defeated Jay Misenheimer with 60.4% of the vote. Hefner will succeed Rep. Bryan Hughes (Mineola) as there is no Democrat running.
Texas House-District 18 (Liberty, San Jacinto, Walker Counties; Republican Primary Runoff): Ernest Bailes defeated Keith Strahan with 67.4% of the vote, and will succeed retiring Rep. John Otto (Dayton). There is no Democrat running in November.
Texas House-District 27 (Fort Bend County; Democratic Primary Runoff): Incumbent Ron Reynolds defeated Angelique Bartholomew with 52.9% of the vote and will face Republican challenger Ken Bryant in November. This is a solid Democratic district.
Texas House-District 33 (Collin and Rockwall Counties; Republican Primary Runoff): Justin Holland defeated John Keating with 50.6% of the vote and will face Democrat Karen Jacobs in November in the race to succeed retiring Rep. Scott Turner (Frisco).
Texas House-District 54 (Bell and Lampasas Counties; Republican Primary Runoff): Scott Cosper defeated Austin Ruiz with 50.4% of the vote. Winning by only 43 votes, this is well within the margin for a recount if requested by Ruiz. Cosper will face Democrat Sandra Blankenship in November in the race to succeed retiring Rep. Jimmie Don Aycock (Killeen).
Texas House-District 64 (Denton; Republican Primary Runoff): Lynn Stucky defeated Read King with 65.7% of the vote in the race to replace retiring Rep. Myra Crownover (Denton). Stucky will face Democrat Connor Flanagan in the fall.
Texas House-District 73 (Comal, Gillespie, and Kendall Counties; Republican Primary Runoff): Kyle Biedermann defeated incumbent Doug Miller (New Braunfels) with 55.4% of the vote. No Democrats are running for this seat.
Texas House-District 120 (San Antonio; Democratic Primary Runoff): Barbara Gervin-Hawkins defeated Mario Salas with 55.8% of the vote in the race to replace retiring Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon. No Republicans are running.
Texas House-District 128 (East Harris County; Republican Primary Runoff): Briscoe Cain defeated incumbent Wayne Smith (Baytown) with 50.2% of the vote. Winning by only 23 votes, this is well within the margin for a recount if requested by Smith. No Democrats are running.
Texas House- District 139 (Houston; Democratic Primary Runoff): Jarvis Johnson defeated Kimberly Willis with 53% of the vote in the race to replace now Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner. Johnson recently won the special election to serve Turner’s remaining term, ending January 2017. No Republicans are running.
State Board of Education-District 6 (Harris County; Democratic Primary Runoff): R. Dakota Carter defeated Jasmine L. Jenkins with 62.4% of the vote and will challenge current SBOE Chair Donna Bahorich (Houston) in November.
State Board of Education-District 9 (31 counties in East/Northeast Texas; Republican Primary Runoff): Keven M. Ellis defeated Mary Lou Bruner with 59.2% of the vote and will succeed retiring SBOE member Thomas Ratliff (Mount Pleasant).