Texas Election Results from November 5, 2019

 Constitutional Amendments:  On Tuesday, Texas voters considered ten constitutional amendments proposed by the 86th Legislature.  9 amendments passed with large margins and 1 amendment failed to pass.

Here are the constitutional amendments Texas voters tackled on Tuesday:

Proposition 1 — “The constitutional amendment permitting a person to hold more than one office as a municipal judge at the same time.” DID NOT PASS

Proposition 2 — “The constitutional amendment providing for the issuance of additional general obligation bonds by the Texas Water Development Board in an amount not to exceed $200 million to provide financial assistance for the development of certain projects in economically distressed areas.” PASSED

Proposition 3 — “The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide for a temporary exemption from ad valorem taxation of a portion of the appraised value of certain property damaged by a disaster.” PASSED

Proposition 4 — “The constitutional amendment prohibiting the imposition of an individual income tax, including a tax on an individual’s share of partnership and unincorporated association income.” PASSED

Proposition 5 — “The constitutional amendment dedicating the revenue received from the existing state sales and use taxes that are imposed on sporting goods to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Texas Historical Commission to protect Texas’ natural areas, water quality, and history by acquiring, managing, and improving state and local parks and historic sites while not increasing the rate of the state sales and use taxes.” PASSED

Proposition 6 — “The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to increase by $3 billion the maximum bond amount authorized for the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas.” PASSED

Proposition 7 — “The constitutional amendment allowing increased distributions to the available school fund.” PASSED

Proposition 8 — “The constitutional amendment providing for the creation of the flood infrastructure fund to assist in the financing of drainage, flood mitigation, and flood control projects.” PASSED

Proposition 9 — “The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to exempt from ad valorem taxation precious metal held in a precious metal depository located in this state.” PASSED

Proposition 10 — “The constitutional amendment to allow the transfer of a law enforcement animal to a qualified caretaker in certain circumstances.” PASSED

 Texas House of Representatives:  Additionally, voters in Dallas, Harris and Fort Bend Counties voted in special elections to fill empty seats in three state House districts.  All will now move to runoff elections as none received more than 50% of the vote, according to unofficial results by Wednesday morning.

 Fort Bend County – House District 28

Democrat Elizabeth “Eliz” Markowitz and Republican Gary Gates head to a runoff to fill the seat vacated by former State Representative John Zerwas, MD – a race that has drawn national attention.

Gates was one of six GOP candidates in this special election and received 28.45% of the vote with Markowitz being the only Democrat in the race, with 39.06% of the vote. Republican Tricia Krenek came in third with 18.13%.

Dallas County – House District 100

Democrat Lorraine Birabil will face Democrat James Armstrong in a runoff for the seat vacated by former State Representative Eric Johnson. Birabil got 33%, with Armstrong had 21%, finishing just five votes ahead of Daniel Davis Clayton and 121 votes ahead of Sandra Crenshaw in the all-Democrat race. Margins are narrow enough to make recount requests eligible.

Harris County – House District 148

The race for the seat vacated by former State Representative Jessica Farrar is headed to a runoff between Democrat Anna Eastman with 18.5% of the vote and Republican Luis La Rotta with 17.19%. Only two other candidates, Democrat Adrian Garcia and Republican Ryan McConnico, were in double digits in the 15-way race.

Houston – Mayor’s Race:  Incumbent Mayor Sylvester Turner, who was elected in 2015 after serving 27 years in the Texas House of Representatives, appears to be headed to a runoff with Tony Buzbee, a Houston attorney. As unofficial election results continued to come in at 3:45am Wednesday morning, Mayor Turner received 49% of the vote while Buzbee trailed behind with 29%. In third place was Bill King, the businessman who narrowly lost to Turner in the 2015 mayoral contest. It is unclear when the final vote count will be completed in Harris County.