TEXAS — It has been over a month since the March primary election, and now, all eyes are on the May 26 runoffs. But looking back at the primaries, there were some candidates who defeated incumbents in their races.
Inside Junior Ezeonu’s Grand Prairie home, there’s still some political merch hanging around.
“It’s cool to have some leftover flyers from the campaign showing, you know, how hard we worked and what we ran on,” said Ezeonu, who is the Democratic nominee to represent Texas House District 101.
Last May, when Spectrum News first met the then-26-year-old, he was deputy mayor pro-tem and a member of the Grand Prairie City Council. After more than four years of representing his city, he set his sights on Austin.
“You know, I’ve really enjoyed serving as a city council member for the City of Grand Prairie. It was really an honor. But after the 2024 election when Donald Trump was reelected, I knew that the Democratic Party needed change,” said Ezeonu.
He took on the 16-year incumbent, Democratic state Rep. Chris Turner, a 53-year-old who has held that office since 2009.
“We knew that he would spend a lot of money. He outspent us 10 to 1; he spent over $1 million on this race, and it was difficult though because I only raised about $100,000,” said Ezeonu.
Fundraising was also a challenge for state Rep. Steve Toth, R-Conroe, who is running to represent Texas’ 2nd Congressional District.
“We were outspent almost 6 to 1 in this campaign,” Toth said. “We had every political action committee in Washington, D.C., lined up against us. And so, yes, we had a lot of local support that lined up for us in our campaign.”
Toth took on Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw and won.
“People of Congressional District 2 definitely wanted somebody new in there. They don’t want forever war Republicans. I think that’s one of the reasons why Donald Trump was elected,” said Toth.
These men are just two out of five candidates in Texas who defeated the incumbents back in March.
In other races, Nate Sheets, whom Gov. Greg Abbott endorsed, defeated Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller in the Republican primary; Don Huffines beat Texas Comptroller Kelly Hancock in the Republican primary; and Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot lost to former Judge Amber Givens in the Democratic primary. Givens is facing possible sanctions regarding her “alleged actions and behavior on the bench,” according to the Dallas Morning News.
Looking forward to the general election in November, Toth will face Democrat Shaun Finnie, and Ezeonu is currently running unopposed.
“Got it done, and now we have to deliver. So, it’s exciting, very exciting. Very grateful to God for the opportunity,” said Ezeonu.