Brent Hagenbuch won the Republican primary runoff for a state Senate seat in a conservative North Texas district.
With all precincts reporting, Hagenbuch had 56.6% of the vote to Jace Yarbrough’s 43.3% across the 11-county Senate District 30 that includes portions of Denton and Collin counties, according to unofficial vote totals.
“I look forward to spending the remainder of the year, continuing to travel the District, and preparing to represent the interests of our area in the Texas Senate,” Hagenbuch said in a statement. “The voters have made clear that border security, education choice, property taxes, and economic growth are top priorities. They will be my focus.”
In declaring victory, Hagenbuch, a 64-year-old former head of the Denton County Republican Party who owns a multistate trucking business, acknowledged the endorsements of former President Donald Trump and some of Texas’ most powerful Republicans, including Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
“Having the support from President Trump, Governor Abbott, and Lt. Governor Patrick opened many doors for our campaign, and I was pleased to walk through each one,” Hagenbuch wrote. “But, together with my campaign team, we knocked on tens of thousands more doors, introduced ourselves, and won over many more.”
Hagenbuch will have a clear advantage against the winner of the Democratic runoff, Dale Frey, in November’s general election. With 57.1% of the vote, Frey defeated Michael Braxton, according to unofficial results. Voters in the district favored Trump over Joe Biden by 24 percentage points in 2020.
Yarbrough issued a statement on social media conceding the election.
“Whatever God has planned in the future for me and my family, I plan to keep fighting for the conservative values our state holds dear,” Yarbrough wrote. “I have no regrets about the campaign – rather, I’m grateful for the opportunity to stand up for the values I believe in.”
Hagenbuch and Yarbrough were the top two vote-getters 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.
As Tuesday’s election approached, the two were locked in a bitter campaign to succeed state Sen. Drew Springer, R-Muenster, who did not seek reelection.
Yarbrough, a 37-year-old lawyer who has sued the government multiple times over conservative causes, accused Hagenbuch of living outside of the district. Yarbrough and another primary opponent sued Hagenbuch over the dispute. The case has yet to be decided.
Hagenbuch said Yarbrough seeks to become a career politician.
Hagenbuch spent more than $3 million on the campaign, according to reports filed with the Texas Ethics Commission. His campaign received $425,000 in last-minute donations from the conservative group Texans for Lawsuit Reform. The campaigns of Abbott and Patrick also donated about $30,000 to Hagenbuch in the final week of campaigning.
Hagenbuch also loaned his campaign $1.8 million, according to the Texas Ethics Commission.
Yarbrough’s campaign spent nearly $700,000 on the election. Yarbrough also loaned his campaign $200,000.
A spot in a Houston-area Senate race was also up for grabs Tuesday as Democratic state Rep. Jarvis Johnson faced state Sen. Molly Cook.
They are vying for a seat vacated by John Whitmire, who resigned from the Senate in December after he was elected Houston mayor. Cook won a special election earlier this month to finish out Whitmire’s term.
With all precincts reporting, Cook narrowly defeated Johnson with 50.2% of the vote and will face Republican Joseph Trahan in November’s election.
