Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday set a date of Jan. 31, 2026, to decide the run-off races to fill a vacant seat in the state Senate and U.S. House.
Fort Worth’s Kelly Hancock, a Republican, previously held the seat for Texas Senate District 9 but vacated it last summer to serve as a clerk in the state comptroller’s office. When Comptroller Glenn Hegar stepped down to become chancellor at Texas A&M, Hancock was named interim Comptroller and then announced his plan to officially run for the seat next year.
Three candidates entered the November race for Hancock’s old seat, including Republican Leigh Wambsganss, Democrat Taylor Rehmet and Republican John Huffman.
Rehmet, a veteran and union leader, took home 48% of the vote in November followed by Wambsganss taking 36% and Huffman grabbing 16%. A runoff is being held because no candidated earned more than 50% of the vote.
The district spans roughly the northern half of Tarrant County. State lawmakers designed the district to select a Republican Senator during the last redistricting cycle, and big money was spent in this race to try to elect Wambsganss, a conservative activist who works for Patriot Mobile, or Huffman, the former mayor of Southlake and a real estate developer.
The runoff will be held Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. Early voting will begin 10 days before on Jan. 21.
Abbott also set the special election for the unexpired term in the 18th Congressional District vacated by the death of Congressman Sylvester Turner for the same date.