Four Texas House incumbents from North Texas were defeated in Tuesday’s Republican primary runoffs.
The races featured unusually heavy involvement from top elected leaders in the Texas GOP, including Gov, Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Here’s how the elections unfolded:
House District 33: In the district anchored in Rockwall County with a slice of Collin County, Katrina Pierson defeated 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, was endorsed by Abbott, Patrick, Paxton and Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller — though not Trump, who has been silent on the race.
Abbott, who backed Pierson after the March primary, targeted Holland for his vote to block a 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: Republican Keresa Richardson easily defeated incumbent Rep. Frederick Frazier in the Republican primary runoff.
Frazier was saddled with legal troubles. He pleaded 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 was backed by Paxton, as Frazier was one of five GOP lawmakers representing Collin County who voted for impeachment.
House District 64: Andy Hopper won his rematch against incumbent Rep. Lynn Stucky, R-Denton. Stucky narrowly won the 2022 primary 50% to 49%.
Abbott campaigned for Stucky, who was first elected in 2016 and is a member of the influential Appropriations Committee. Paxton backed Hopper, a small farmer and co-founder of Wise County Conservatives.
House District 91: David Lowe defeated Stephanie Klick in a rematch of their 2022 primary.
Paxton backed Lowe, an Army veteran and grassroots organizer, while Abbott endorsed 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 businessman John McQueeney outlasted former aerospace engineer Cheryl Bean for the Republican nomination.
Abbott endorsed McQueeney, while Bean was backed by Patrick and Paxton.
The seat is being vacated by Republican state Rep. Craig Goldman, who’s running for Congress.
In the Democratic runoff for District 97, a GOP-leaning district, Carlos Walker beat Diane Symons.
