Texas Runoff Elections: House Results

By Scott Bland  //  July 31, 2012 | 9:14 p.m.

TX-33 [11:55 p.m.]: State Rep. Marc Veasey narrowly won the Democratic nomination in Texas's 33rd Congressional District over former state legislator Domingo Garcia Tuesday night, finishing a primary runoff marked by deep demographic and geographic divisions.

With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Veasey led Garcia 52 percent to 48 percent. The Associated Press called the race for Veasey.

Veasey and Garcia each won nearly identical margins in their home counties. Garcia, who is Hispanic, took 70 percent of the vote in Dallas County, while Veasey, who is African-American, pulled just under 70 percent from the slightly larger portion of the district in Fort Worth's Tarrant County. Both candidates drew heavily from their demographic bases, with Garcia actively appealing for Hispanic solidarity as he stumped for votes in the final week of the campaign.

The district is over 60 percent HIspanic, and though Garcia improved dramatically on his initial primary performance, his defeat is another setback for Hispanics' efforts to turn their population's growth into Hispanic representation in Congress. Last month, Dominican-American state Sen. Adrian Espaillat narrowly lost a high-profile challenge to New York Democratic Rep. Charlie Rangel in another Hispanic-majority district.

The newly drawn 33rd District is safely Democratic, and Veasey is a heavy favorite to join the 113th Congress.

TX-25 [9:24 p.m.]: Former Texas secretary of state Roger Williams won the Republican primary runoff in the heavily GOP 25th District Tuesday night, defeating tea party activist Wes Riddle. With early votes and 23 percent of election day precincts reporting, Williams led Riddle 60 percent to 40 percent. The Associated Press called the race for Williams.

This primary arguably offered an even bigger insider-outsider contrast than the Republican U.S. Senate runoff between David Dewhurst and Ted Cruz, where Cruz leads in the early returns. But though Riddle did well to hold Williams's margin down, he simply didn't have the outside group and financial backing that the Senate underdog attracted. Even in a year (or a few years) tailored for non-establishment candidates, you still need something more than just that to win -- and Riddle didn't quite have it.

Williams is now likely to join the 113th Congress as the representative from the brand-new, conservative seat, which stretches from Austin to Fort Worth. TX-34 [9:19 p.m.]: Attorney Filemon Vela won the Democratic primary runoff in the new 34th District Tuesday night, defeating Denise Saenz-Blanchard. With early votes and 13 percent of election day precincts reporting, Vela led Saenz-Blanchard 67 percent to 33 percent. The Associated Press called the race for Vela. Saenz-Blanchard attacked Vela as an opportunist and a crypto-Republican during the runoff, but Vela -- who finished first in the May primary by a wide margin -- cemented his advantage with ease. The Brownsville-based district, which takes in the southern Gulf Coast down to the Mexican border and is heavily Hispanic, is a safely Democratic seat, and Vela becomes the general election favorite against either Republican runoff competitor. That race, between Jessica Bradshaw and Adela Garza, has not yet been called. TX-14 [9:14 p.m.]: State Rep. Randy Weber has won the Republican primary runoff in retiring Rep. Ron Paul's district, advancing to the general election over city official Felicia Harris. With a significant early vote and 1% of election day precincts reporting, Weber led Harris 63 percent to 37 percent. The Associated Press called the race for Weber. Weber finished first in the initial May primary but, with just 28 percent of the vote, still had a lot of work to do to win the GOP nomination. But he had Paul's endorsement and a financial advantage over Harris, who was supported by some neighboring Texas Republican congressmen. Weber will face former Rep. Nick Lampson, the Democratic nominee, in the general election. Though the district gave over 57 percent of its 2008 presidential vote to John McCain, Democrats have some degree of hope that Lampson and his conservative Democratic record can find success in the idiosyncratic Gulf Coast seat. After a token primary, Lampson starts the general with a cash advantage over Weber. Lampson had over $340,000 in the bank after the last financial reporting deadline, while Weber is likely depleted after his primary runoff. However, advancing to the general will open some wallets for him in the coming weeks.

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