Jago Times "English Edition" Best Online Newspaper
A Democrat and a Republican were leading in unofficial returns Tuesday night in a nationally targeted special election for a historically Republican Texas House seat.
Democrat Eliz Markowitz — the only Democrat in the race — was in first place, while Republican Gary Gates was in second, according to unofficial returns. The race will head to a runoff if no candidate gets over 50%.
In House District 100, where former Rep. Eric Johnson, D-Dallas, vacated his seat earlier this year after becoming Dallas mayor, Democrat Lorraine Birabil had a wide lead over three Democratic rivals but had not clinched more than half the vote. James Armstrong III, Daniel Davis Clayton and Sandra Crenshaw were in a close race for second place and a spot in an expected runoff.
And in House District 148, where Rep. Jessica Farrar, D-Houston, also resigned at the end of September, Democrat Anna Eastman and Republican Luis La Rotta were topping the field. They were followed by Democrat Adrian Garcia and Republican Ryan McConnico in the 15-way race.
In the run-up to Tuesday, though, the battle for Zerwas’ seat had attracted the most attention. Democrats are aiming to flip the seat as they head into 2020 with the hopes of capturing the Texas House, where they are effectively nine seats away from the majority.
Markowitz, a Katy educator who unsuccessfully ran last year for the State Board of Education, drew hundreds of thousands of dollars in support from state and national Democrats. A number of high-profile surrogates visited the district to campaign for her, including Beto O’Rourke when he was running for president.
While there were a half-dozen Republicans running, only three emerged as viable contenders: Gates; Krenek, a former member of the Fulshear City Council; and Allred, an anesthesiologist from Katy. Gates, who made his fortune in real estate, almost exclusively self-funded his campaign, loaning himself over $700,000.