AUSTIN — What was supposed to be a GOP snoozer is now a high-stakes runoff Saturday, with Democrats smelling an upset in a conservative Tarrant County state Senate district and Republicans betting they’ll keep the seat.
Democrat Taylor Rehmet, who came within 3 percentage points of flipping the deep-red seat in November, faces Republican Leigh Wambsganss in a race that has Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick raising the alarm.
Patrick, a Republican who leads the GOP-controlled Senate and backs Wambsganss, said the unusual election date may be confusing voters. He compared the moment to a 2018 low-turnout special election in which Republicans captured a left-leaning Senate seat.
If Democrats break through this time, Patrick warned, it could trigger a wave of national money.
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“The Democrats can say, ‘See, we’re turning purple,’ and then millions of dollars will pour into here next November,” he said.
Early voting ended Tuesday. As of Monday, about 37,500 ballots had been cast, roughly 6.4% of eligible voters, after icy weather closed polling sites and slowed voting over the weekend, county officials said.
Rehmet, 33, is an Air Force veteran and labor organizer who is an aircraft mechanic working on F-35s for Lockheed Martin. He’s focused on affordability and increasing public school funding.
He’s tied the two issues together, saying the state should contribute more for public schools, which he said would drive down local property taxes now used to finance schools.
“It just seems like a no-brainer,” Rehmet told KTVT-TV in Dallas.
Wambsganss, 58, is a Southlake resident who works as a vice president at the Grapevine-based wireless company Patriot Mobile, which donates portions of its revenue to conservative causes, such as preserving bans on abortion and fighting gun control.
She’s made decreasing property taxes her campaign’s top issue, and has called for the state to return all surplus money to homeowners via tax cuts.
“We throw all the options on the table, and we end up with the one that’s best for Texans, because people are literally being taxed out of their homes, and it’s not acceptable,” she said in a KTVT interview.
The election also has drawn the attention of Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico, an Austin state representative with a large social media following.
“This is the most important election that you might not know about,” Talarico said in a post supporting Rehmet. “This is a seat Democrats haven’t won in years, and that’s exactly why the special interests are pouring money in. They’re scared of a fighter.”
The winner will serve out the remainder of former Sen. Kelly Hancock’s term through January. Hancock resigned after being appointed to the state comptroller’s office. Hancock is now seeking the GOP nomination to the office.
State Senate District 9 encompasses most of northern Tarrant County, including downtown Fort Worth, Southlake and North Richland Hills. The district heavily favors Republicans and voted for President Donald Trump by more than 17 percentage points in 2024.
Rehmet gobbled up just under 48% of the vote in November, short of the majority needed to take the seat outright.
The GOP vote was split between Wambsganss and former Southlake Mayor John Huffman, who spent most of the campaign fighting each other.
That allowed Rehmet to spend relatively few dollars leading up to the election. Since then, the race has drawn more resources, including support staff from the Harris County Democratic Party.
Tarrant County Democratic Party Chair Allison Campolo said she’s “very encouraged,” calling the race a potential springboard for Democrats countywide in 2026.
Republican strategist Jeremy Bradford, who works for a PAC supporting Wambsganss, said he expects a comfortable win but urged caution.
“You don’t want to get cocky…The numbers are there,” he said, adding it comes down to Republican turnout.
Since late October, Wambsganss has raised about $900,000 compared to Rehmet’s $430,000. She has reeled in large donations from Texans for Lawsuit Reform, a group that supports limiting suits against corporations, and a PAC connected to conservative megadonor Tim Dunn, an oil billionaire.