LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – Republican voters in Texas\u2019 19th Congressional District will return to the polls May 26 after no candidate secured more than 50% of the vote in the primary election Tuesday, triggering a runoff.<\/p>\n
Tom Sell led the field on election night with 40.4% of the vote. He will face either Abraham Enriquez or Matt Smith in the runoff.<\/p>\n
Enriquez holds second place with 18.8% of the vote compared to Smith\u2019s 18.5% \u2014 a margin of 193 votes out of 77,664 cast, according to the Secretary of State\u2019s website.<\/p>\n
Smith said he will not concede until 100% of the vote is counted. His campaign released a statement Thursday saying there may still be mail-in or provisional ballots that have not been counted.<\/p>\n
Lubbock County currently reports 99% of the votes have been processed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I\u2019m unwilling to compromise even if that means I don\u2019t win, they\u2019re going to see that I\u2019m not going to compromise if I get in a tight spot whenever I\u2019m representing District 19,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n
One of the largest differences among the candidates is fundraising. Sell has raised more than $1.2 million for his campaign, far surpassing both Enriquez and Smith.<\/p>\n
Joel Sievert, an associate professor of political science at Texas Tech University, said that fundraising advantage helps explain Sell\u2019s lead.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat I think is very reflective of why he was in the position he was in. Now does that guarantee he\u2019ll win the runoff? No, not necessarily. But if you have to be one of the three, you\u2019d rather be the one who won 40 percent of the vote and has more cash on hand now that this primary is going to be extended,\u201d Sievert said.<\/p>\n
Sievert also noted a shift in how candidates are framing their campaigns.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re seeing primary candidates try to run these highly nationally-focused messages, so that\u2019s somewhat new in that sense,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Sell said he plans to build on his primary performance heading into the runoff.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we just continue building, continue to work this plan, and continue to build from here. I feel good about the opportunity with all of the feedback we\u2019ve received and I feel really good about the ability and opportunity to do that,\u201d Sell said.<\/p>\n
Enriquez is running as a Trump ally and has cited his relationship with the president as a selling point for his campaign.<\/p>\n
Sievert said that\u2019s a strategy that hasn\u2019t always worked on the national scale, but it could be effective here in District 19.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a district that is heavily Republican. Trump won it by the largest margin of any of the congressional districts so the strategy does make a lot of sense. If people don\u2019t know who you are, attaching yourself to someone who is ostensibly popular in the district sends that signal,\u201d Sievert said.<\/p>\n
President Trump previously endorsed Congressman Jodey Arrington before Arrington announced he would not seek reelection. Trump has not formally endorsed any candidate running to replace Arrington.<\/p>\n
Sievert said that is common in primaries this competitive.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo the extent we have seen it, though, it does follow the dynamic of it\u2019s not clear that his endorsements sway the outcome. A lot of the time he is picking the candidate that\u2019s ahead, he has kind of avoided these very close, very confrontational primaries,\u201d Sievert said.<\/p>\n
The runoff is scheduled for May 26.<\/p>\n
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