Texas voters voted Tuesday in the state’s Democratic and Republican primaries. While several races will head to a runoff, we now know who will be on the ballot in Texas’ gubernatorial, U.S. House and other top races.
Here are three things to know about Texas’ primary results:
The gubernatorial race will be Abbott vs. O’Rourke
Texas’ Gov. Greg Abbott won his primary and will seek a third term. Abbott, a Republican who first took office in 2015, faced early concerns over his popularity since the Texas power grid failure, but a February UT-Austin poll found his approval had slightly recovered. Abbott moved to the right and beat his next closest primary challenger, former Texas Republican Party chair Allen West, and will face Democrat and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke in November.
O’Rourke handily won Texas’ Democratic primary and will now have his first statewide race since 2018, when he lost to GOP Sen. Ted Cruz by the smallest margin of any Democrat in Texas in 40 years. O’Rourke ran as a progressive during his failed 2020 presidential campaign, which could be a challenge this year in a state where even the more moderate President Joe Biden is widely unpopular. O’Rourke has moderated his position on guns since his presidential run, an issue for many voters in a state that sells more firearms in a year than any other.
“I’m not interested in taking anything from anyone,” O’Rourke told The New York Times last month. “What I want to make sure we do is defend the Second Amendment.” He said although he doesn’t want AR-15s or AK-47s on Texas streets, as governor he would support universal background checks and safe firearm storage requirements.
A February UT Austin poll found Abbott ahead of O’Rourke by 47% to 37%, with 17% saying someone else or they didn’t have an opinion.
A Bush is headed for a runoff
The Texas attorney general’s GOP primary race is headed to a May 24 runoff after incumbent Ken Paxton failed to get a majority of the vote. Paxton received about 43% of the vote and will run against Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush, the son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and nephew of former President George W. Bush, who got about 23%.
Paxton has the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, but he’s also under indictment and FBI investigation. And while Bush has the backing of his famous uncle, he’s not taking W.’s approach to Trump, who once called George P. Bush “the only Bush that likes me.”
The winner of the runoff will face Democratic challenger Rochelle Garza.
No U.S. House incumbents lost their race
In the primaries for Texas’ 38 congressional seats, no incumbent was defeated, meaning lawmakers like Reps. Dan Crenshaw, a Republican, and Joaquin Castro, a Democrat, are set to defend their seats in November. Two incumbents, however, Reps. Henry Cuellar, a Democrat, and Van Taylor, a Republican, did not receive a majority of the vote, and are being forced into a runoff.
Texas gained two U.S. House seats following the 2020 census, more than any state. Texas’ redistricting was give an “F” rating by the Princeton Gerrymandering Project for partisan fairness because its district maps were drawn to give Republicans a significant advantage. The study also found Texas districts were not drawn compactly and counties were split more than typical. The state’s new 37th District is based in Austin, and the 38th District in Houston.