The United States Senate Democratic primary race is heading to a runoff election after inconclusive results came in Tuesday.
A runoff election will be held for the Democratic senatorial primary on May 26 between the top two candidates. None of the 12 candidates received at least 50% of votes plus one additional vote to be declared the winner.
Veteran Mary “MJ” Hegar will continue to the runoff after receiving 24% of the votes at 96% of counties reporting. Six other candidates earned between 8%-14% of the vote at the time of print.
The candidates on the ballot were former U.S. Rep. Chris Bell, Michael Cooper, former Houston City Council member Amanda Edwards, Jack Daniel Foster Jr., Annie “Mamá” Garcia, Victor Harris, MJ Hegar, Sema Hernandez, Adrian Ocegueda, labor organizer Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez and state Sen. Royce West and D.R. Hunter.
Incumbent John Cornyn won the Republican senatorial primary with 76% of the vote at 96% of counties reporting. Cornyn ran against Mark Yancey, Dwayne Stovall, John Anthony Castro and Virgil Bierschwale.
History graduate student Jon Buchleiter attended a watch party hosted by Texas Rising, a progressive advocacy group on campus. He said he didn’t pay a large amount of attention to the Democratic primary race.
“I don’t think Cornyn is particularly vulnerable, so I don’t view it as a particularly competitive race,” Buchleiter said.
In a video posted by the Austin American-Statesman at the Travis GOP watch party, Cornyn said he plans to reach across the aisle to Democratic voters during the general election.
“We are united as one party, and we go into the general election stronger than we have ever been before,” Cornyn said in the video.
In U.S. Congressional District 21, Wendy Davis won the Democratic primary with 86% of the vote with 96% of counties reporting at the time of print. Davis ran against Jennie Lou Leeder. Incumbent candidate Chip Roy, who ran unopposed, won the Republican nomination.
Daniel Browning, a UT alumus and intern on the Wendy Davis campaign, said he believes in Davis’ policies regarding reproductive rights, the environment and gun control.
“I like her tenacity,” Browning said. “She had a really terrible loss in 2014, and she came back from that … fighting and she came back with a clear vision of how to move forward.”
In U.S. Congressional District 25, incumbent Roger Williams won the Republican primary nomination against Keith Neuendorff. Julie Oliver won the Democratic primary against Heidi Sloan.
“Thank you, Texas,” Oliver said in a Tweet. “Extraordinarily proud of the determination and commitment that our organizing team and our volunteers have shown — working their hearts out, knocking doors, canvassing and working hard day in day out to drive historic turnout. This win is theirs.”
Incumbent Lloyd Dogget won the Democratic primary for U.S. Congressional District 35 against Rafael Alcoser III. At the time of print, Republican candidates Jenny Garcia Sharon, “Guillermo” William Hayward and Nick Moutos each held 29% to 37% of the votes.
