Texas House Primary Results

By Scott Bland  //  May 29, 2012 | 8:42 p.m.

[11:58 p.m.] TX-33: State Rep. Marc Veasey and former state Rep. Domingo Garcia will face each other in a runoff after finishing atop the Democratic primary.

The Associated Press called the runoff just before midnight Eastern time. With 98 percent of precincts reporting, Veasey led Garcia 37 percent to 25 percent. Fort Worth Councilwoman Kathleen Hicks came in third with 13 percent, and eight other Democrats divided the remainder of the primary vote.

Veasey, an African-American, and Garcia, a HIspanic, will meet one-on-one on July 31, extending a contentious primary for another two months. Each man drew just under a majority in their home county; Veasey got 49 percent of the Tarrant County vote, while Garcia got about 44 percent in Dallas County. Hicks's votes came almost exclusively from Tarrant, which seems likely to benefit Veasey in the runoff.

The real question for the "second primary" is turnout, though, and that will be a bigger hurdle for Garcia. African-American voters, especially in Tarrant, have overperformed their share of the population in recent Democratic primaries, while Hispanics have not turned out to vote at rates befitting their plurality of the district's population.

Garcia is hopeful that a viable Hispanic candidate can nudge large numbers of new Hispanic voters to the polls, but his second-place finish belies that somewhat.

[11:52 p.m.] TX-34: Attorney Filemon Vela will advance to a runoff for the Democratic nomination in the district with a strong plurality of the vote. The Associated Press called the runoff at 11:40 with two other candidates, Denise Blanchard and Ramiro Garza, fighting for the other spot in the July election. With 73 percent of precincts reporting, Vela had 41 percent of the vote, with Blanchard and Garza close together at 13 percent apiece.

Vela comes from a Gulf Coast political family and brought some of his own money to bear on the race, outspending the field. Cameron County District Attorney Armando Villalobos was initially considered a frontrunner but was indicted on federal fraud charges earlier this month.

[10:25 p.m.] TX-35: Veteran Democratic Rep. Lloyd Doggett has turned aside a primary challenge in the new majority-Latino 35th District, which stretches from his Austin base south to San Antonio. With 39 percent of precincts reporting, Doggett led Bexar County tax official Sylvia Romo 69 percent to 24 percent, with another candidate absorbing the remainder of the vote. Doggett was carrying majorities in every county in the district when the race was called, but he was particularly strong in his Austin base, winning 93 percent of the vote in Travis County. Texas Republicans have been attacking Doggett via redistricting for years, and 2012 was no different, as he was gerrymandered into unfamiliar territory with a rising Hispanic electorate. But Romo had little time to put together a strong challenge and Doggett rallied Latino Democratic leaders in the 35th District to his side. [10:07 p.m.] TX-04: 89-year-old GOP Rep. Ralph Hall has won renomination. The Associated Press has called the race; with 14 percent of precincts reporting and significant early voting, Hall led two challengers with 60 percent of the vote. The anti-incumbent Campaign for Primary Accountability super PAC invested against Hall, but his principal opponent only started campaigning late in the primary. [8:42 p.m.] TX-30: Less than half an hour after polls closed in Dallas, the Associated Press already called the Democratic primary in the 30th District for Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, who turned aside a spirited challenge from attorney Taj Clayton with relative ease. Zero percent of precincts were reporting at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time, but Johnson had 71 percent of a significant early vote. Clayton was in third place in the early vote with 12 percent, behind state Rep. Barbara Caraway. Clayton, a Harvard-educated attorney, carved out a small national profile for himself by challenging Johnson, but his loss illustrates the enormous barriers facing young African-American politicians who try to challenge their way into the Congressional Black Caucus, instead of waiting for an older member to retire.

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