AUSTIN — The runoff election for a Tarrant County state Senate district will be held on Jan. 31.
Gov. Greg Abbott issued a proclamation Monday setting the date of the election. Abbott also set the runoff election for a Houston congressional seat that has remained vacant since U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner died on March 5. Early voting begins on Jan. 21.
The runoff election is for state Senate District 9, which was represented by former Sen. Kelly Hancock until the North Richland Hills Republican resigned to accept an appointment as acting Texas comptroller.
The district, which includes most of northern Tarrant County and downtown Fort Worth, is considered a safe Republican seat. Voters in District 9 favored President Donald Trump by about 18 percentage points in the 2024 election.
Political Points
However, the Democrat in the race, Fort Worth labor organizer Taylor Rehmet, nearly pulled off an upset win in November’s election by gobbling up just under 48% of the vote, short of the majority needed to win the seat outright. He is facing Republican Leigh Wambsganss, a Southlake resident, in the runoff.
The Republican vote in that three-way race was split between Wambsganss and former Southlake Mayor John Huffman. Wambsganss is chief communications officer of Patriot Mobile, a cell service provider that advertises itself as a right-leaning company dedicated to supporting conservative causes.
The special election drew millions in campaign spending, including more than $3 million spent by Dallas Mavericks owner Miriam Adelson, in a bid to elect Huffman as a pro-gambling candidate. He came in third place.
Wambsganss also took in large sums of cash from Republican-aligned mega donors, including West Texas oil billionaire Tim Dunn.
Rehmet, on the other hand, marched to a first-place showing after his campaign only spent about $68,000, according to campaign finance reports.