MJ Hegar will be the candidate who goes up against U.S. Sen. John Cornyn when the general election rolls around in November.
Hegar defeated long-time Texas Sen. Royce West in the Democratic primary runoff on Tuesday, ultimately garnering 52.1 percent of the vote.
The vote-counting went on until yesterday morning. West told supporters via Twitter that 37,000 votes remained uncounted at the end of election night, but conceded the race early Wednesday morning. In the end, 40,625 votes separated the two candidates, with Hegar claiming 498,180 for the win.
Hegar enjoyed a significant advantage in fund-raising over West, who received the endorsements of most of the previous candidates from the first round of voting.
U.S. House Dist. 24
In the race for the U.S. House of Representatives in District 24, Candace Valenzuela decidedly beat Kim Olson by a margin of 60.4 to 39.6 percent. Valenzuela received a total of 19,950 votes to Olson’s 13,079.
The race garnered some national attention after Olson made what some deemed to be incendiary remarks during the protests over the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.
Valenzuela received some heavyweight endorsements during the runoff, including legendary civil rights activist Rep. John Lewis.
U.S. House Dist. 3
Lulu Seikaly defeated Sean McCaffity by a similar margin (60.7 to 39.3 percent) in the race for U.S. House of Representatives District 3, which covers Collin County.
Seikaly is a first-generation American of Lebonese descent and an attorney. She also received the highest vote totals in the first round of voting.
Texas Rep. Dist. 100
There will definitely be a changeover in the Texas House of Representatives for District 100 as challenger Jasmine Felicia Crockett defeated the incumbent, Lorraine Birabi to move into the general election.
Crockett took 50.4 percent of the vote, winning the race by only 92 votes.
Birabi’s tenure in the state house was short, as this election was held for the seat recently vacated by Eric Johnson, who resigned to assume the role of Dallas City Mayor.
Criminal District Court No. 3
Audra Dawn Riley won the runoff race for Criminal District Court No. 3. With 75,819 votes, she claimed 61.79 percent for the win over Teresa Jan Hawthorne.
Texas Railroad Commissioner
Chrysta Castaneda beat Roberto Alonzo by a margin of 62 to 38 percent to run for the office of Texas Railroad Commissioner in November.
