North Texas voters will select this year’s final Republican and Democratic nominees starting today, when early voting begins for the primary runoffs in an array of federal, state and local races.
Most major-party nominees for the November general election were chosen in the March 5 primary. For races that didn’t produce a clear winner, the top two finishers advanced to the May 28 runoff.
Early voting ends Friday.
Those who voted in the March primary must vote in the same party’s runoff. All other registered voters are free to choose between the Democratic and Republican runoffs.
Topping ballots in Tarrant County is the race to replace U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, the pioneering Fort Worth Republican who will retire after 28 years in Congress.
The marquee runoff in Dallas County is the Democratic race for sheriff, where incumbent Marion Brown is trying to hold off former sheriff Lupe Valdez.
There’s also a Republican race for the Texas Senate seat vacated by Drew Springer, R-Muenster.
Sprinkled throughout the area are critical state legislative races punctuated by an often bitter power struggle within the Republican Party, with Gov. Greg Abbott targeting House incumbents who blocked his “school choice” priority and Attorney General Ken Paxton opposing House Republicans who last year voted to impeach him on allegations of corruption and misuse of office.
Races of interest in the Dallas-Fort Worth area include:
Republican House primaries
House District 33: In the district anchored in Rockwall County and including a slice of Collin County, Katrina Pierson is challenging incumbent Rep. Justin Holland in one of the state’s most-watched races.
Pierson, the former national spokesperson for Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, is endorsed by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, Abbott and Paxton — though not Trump, who has been silent on the race.
Abbott endorsed Pierson after the March primary. He’s trying to unseat Holland for voting to block his plan to allow some parents to use public money to pay for private schools. Paxton also targeted Holland, one of the 60 Republicans who voted to impeach him.
Pierson emerged from the March primary with a slight lead over Holland, 39.5% to 38.7%, in a three-candidate race.
House District 61: The Republican runoff pits Rep. Frederick Frazier against Keresa Richardson.
Frazier is seeking a second two-year term but finished behind Richardson in the primary after pleading no contest last year to two counts of attempting to impersonate a public official. A judge dismissed the misdemeanors and ended his deferred adjudication probation April 25.
Abbott endorsed Frazier. Richardson is backed by Paxton, as Frazier was one of five GOP lawmakers representing Collin County who voted for impeachment.
House District 64: Rep. Lynn Stucky, R-Denton, is opposed by Andy Hopper in a rematch of the 2022 primary that Stucky won 50% to 49%.
Abbott is campaigning for Stucky, who was first elected in 2016 and is a member of the influential Appropriations Committee, and Paxton is backing Hopper, a small-farmer and co-founder of Wise County Conservatives.
The Denton-based district also includes Wise County.
House District 91: The Tarrant County-anchored district has a rematch between Rep. Stephanie Klick, R-Fort Worth, and David Lowe. Klick, who defeated Lowe in the 2022 primary, finished 2 percentage points ahead of him in March.
Paxton has endorsed Lowe, an Army veteran and grassroots organizer, while Abbott is backing Klick, who was first elected in 2012 and is chair of the Public Health Committee.
House District 97: In a race for the open Tarrant County seat, Fort Worth businessperson and former aerospace engineer Cheryl Bean is in a runoff with Fort Worth businessperson John McQueeney for the Republican nomination. Bean nearly avoided a runoff with 49% of the March primary vote.
Abbott has endorsed McQueeney, while Bean is backed by Patrick and Paxton.
The seat is being vacated by state Rep. Craig Goldman, who’s running for Congress.
The Democratic runoff for District 97, a GOP-leaning district, features Diane Symons and Carlos Walker. Symons was 10 percentage points ahead of Walker in a three-candidate primary.
Congressional District 12
Goldman and construction company owner John O’Shea are in the GOP runoff to replace U.S. Rep. Kay Granger in the Fort Worth-anchored district.
A top lieutenant of House Speaker Dade Phelan, Goldman has the backing of most of the Tarrant County GOP establishment, including Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, plus Abbott and former Gov. Rick Perry.
Goldman’s most critical endorsement is from Patrick, the powerful lieutenant governor who has the ear of Trump and support of grassroots activists across the state.
O’Shea, the owner of a construction company, is running an “America First“ campaign and is endorsed by Paxton.
The race is a test of whether establishment Republicans in Tarrant County can win a district that includes hotbeds of hard-right conservatism.
District 12 includes western Tarrant County and much of downtown Fort Worth. It extends into rural areas of Parker County. Goldman has to win big in Tarrant County to offset potential O’Shea voters in Parker County.
Congressional District 32
The Republican runoff for the district currently represented by Democrat Colin Allred pits former Dallas City Council member David Blewitt against businessperson and journalist Darrell Day. Blewitt finished ahead of Day 44% to 38% in the March primary.
The winner will face state Rep. Julie Johnson, D-Farmers Branch, in November to represent a solidly Democratic district. Allred did not seek reelection and is challenging U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in November.
Dallas County sheriff
Lupe Valdez resigned as Dallas County sheriff in late 2017 to run for governor against Abbott and immediately backed Marian Brown — then third in command — as her successor. Now Valdez is challenging Brown for her old job.
After being appointed sheriff, Brown won the 2018 sheriff’s race and was reelected in 2020 to a four-year term. She is the first Black woman to lead the department.
Valdez, the first Latina and first lesbian to serve as Dallas County sheriff, was initially elected in 2004, two years before Democrats took control of Dallas County politics by winning every contested countywide election.
Valdez’s platform includes boosting morale among county jailers and sheriff’s deputies and addressing issues that she says led to a rise in the jail population.
Brown directed the department through the COVID-19 pandemic, and under her watch the jail passed its 2023 state inspection. She has said throughout the campaign that it’s important to continue to improve and modernize the office.
Brown finished ahead of Valdez, 44% to 38%, in a five-candidate race in March.
Texas Senate District 30
Republicans Brent Hagenbuch and Jace Yarbrough are in a runoff to replace Drew Springer, the retiring Republican.
Yarbrough has filed a lawsuit to remove Hagenbuch from the ballot, alleging he did not live in the district long enough to qualify as a candidate. Hagenbuch says the complaint is without merit, and he’ll be on the ballot for the May 28 runoff.
Hagenbuch is endorsed by Abbott, Patrick, Trump, Springer and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn.
In the March Republican primary, Hagenbuch topped Yarbrough by about 2,400 votes, with 36.4% of the vote to Yarbrough’s 33.9% in a four-candidate race.
Democrats in the solidly Republican district will choose between Michael Braxton, owner of a Denison barbershop and pastor of Bethel Community Baptist Church, and Dale Frey, a web developer and federal contractor.
The district spawls through 11 counties and includes parts of the cities of Denton and Frisco.
State Board of Education
In District 12, which includes Collin County and parts of Dallas and Denton counties, Jamie Kohlmann is challenging incumbent Pam Little in the Republican primary.
Other North Texas contests
Additional down-ballot races in North Texas include the Tarrant County Commissioners Court Precinct 1 Democratic runoff between Kathleen Hicks and Roderick Miles Jr., Rockwall County Commissioners Court Precinct 1 GOP runoff between Bobby Gallana and Mike Townsend, Kaufman County Commissioners Court Precinct 1 GOP runoff between Terry Crow and Mike Hunt, and the Collin County Republican Party chair race between Shelby Williams and Ellen Loveless. Republican judicial candidates also are in runoffs in Collin, Ellis and Kaufman counties.
