The Texas Democratic Primary Runoffs

The Democrats who made it to the next round.

Mar 07, 2026

Did you think we were going to get some rest? If you haven’t caught on yet, Texas has a bare minimum of two elections a year, but sometimes many more. There are almost always elections happening in Texas. And now that the primaries are over, we have a ton of primary runoff elections to look forward to. On top of that, city elections are happening in the same month. I’ll list all the dates below. They’re very confusing since there is so much overlap. You’ll be able to find these dates listed at the bottom of all of my articles from now through May.

Important dates:

April 2, 2026: Last day to register to vote (City elections)
April 20, 2026: Last day to apply to vote by mail (City elections)
April 20, 2026: First day of early voting (City elections)
April 27, 2026: Last day to register to vote (Democratic primary runoff elections)
April 28, 2026: Last day of early voting (City elections)
May 2, 2026: Last day to receive ballot by mail (City elections)
May 2, 2026: Election day! (City elections)
May 15, 2026: Last day to apply to vote by mail (Democratic primary runoff elections)
May 18, 2026: First day of early voting (Democratic primary runoff elections)
May 22, 2026: Last day of early voting (Democratic primary runoff elections)
May 26, 2026: Last day to receive ballot by mail (Democratic primary runoff elections)
May 26, 2026: Election day! (Democratic primary runoff elections)

I have the candidate lists updated, and I plan to do another run-through of websites and social media this weekend, now that there’s so much less to search for.

Before we discuss the runoff races, I wanted to make a quick mention of the city elections in May. These are non-partisan elections, but yes, I will make recommendations, as I did last year. And I will make all the updates in our Sway voting group. If you’re a progressive running in these non-partisan races in May and want to get on my list of recommendations, please email me soon.

Democrat vs. Democrat, once more. Not a blood sport, but a friendly joust.

We have two and a half months to talk about these races, so expect to hear plenty more about them. We need to pick the best Democrats for the head-to-head matches against Republicans in November.

Attorney General - Johnson vs. Jaworski:

This AG runoff race I predicted, between Senator Nathan Johnson and former Galveston mayor Joe Jaworski. Frankly, this race did take me a little by surprise. I endorsed Jaworski. To me, he seemed like the obvious progressive choice, and, as you and I have recently discussed, Texas is more progressive than not. So what happened?

When I endorsed Jaworski in this race, I highlighted why I picked him, but didn’t specify why I picked him over Johnson. I heard some feedback, and to some people that mattered. But with all the negativity in the US Senate race and in most of the races I was talking about, I was trying to keep everything positive and focused on candidates’ achievements. It’s no secret that Jaworski went negative in his campaign against Johnson, and I wonder if Democratic voters didn’t care. Or if it even reached them at all.

And perhaps, since Johnson is a sitting Senator and Jaworski has been out of the scene for a few years, Johnson scores big on name ID. There are post-mortems to be had, but with Johnson pulling in 1,000,655 votes to Jaworski’s 549,692 votes, there’s definitely ground to make up. The ground:

Lt. Governor - Goodwin vs. Velez:

This is another tough one. The political insider who lives and breathes legislative politics versus the community leader whose work happens on the ground rather than inside the Capitol. Vikki Goodwin pulled in 1,008,416 votes, and Marcos Velez pulled in 661,410 votes.

I did not endorse in this race, and I do not plan to.

It is interesting to see who turned up for this race.

I would like to see the exit polls, which I haven’t yet. I’m willing to bet that Velez pulled in bigger margins with Latino voters and had some of the same alignment as James Talarico. At the same time, Goodwin won Dallas, Houston, and East Texas, the same as Crockett.

We’ll have to see how this runoff shakes out.

TX01 - Prince vs. Alexander:

Yolanda Prince pulled in 15,667 votes, and Dax Alexander pulled in 7,717 votes; neither met the 50.01% threshold to win, so they advanced to a runoff.

It’s important to have Democrats in every seat across the state, in every election. It mobilizes and motivates our base and turns red areas blue. That being said, don’t hold your breath for TX01 to turn blue this year. The blue wave we’re expecting would have to be a super-duper tsunami. We’re talking about a place that’s pretty red, but mostly non-voting.

TX01, Louie Gohmert’s old corner of the state, is roughly 63% white, 18% Black, and 14% Hispanic, and has an average voter turnout of 47%.

In these primaries, 31,155 Democrats voted, 80,345 Republicans voted. The winner of this East Texas race will face off against Nathaniel Moran in November.

TX05 - Hockett vs. Torres:

In this race, Chelsey Hockett pulled in 23,924 votes, and Ruth Torres pulled in 21,667 votes. It was much closer than expected. Half of this district is in Dallas County. There’s no telling how much the issues in Dallas may have impacted this race, or whether Crockett voters will show up in the runoffs. Because of that, this race could really go one way or the other.

I previously endorsed Hockett in the primary, but both of these women are working hard for this nomination. This is going to be one race to keep an eye on, absolutely.

TX14 - Davis vs. Bartie:

This one absolutely caught me off guard. The best thing about this primary race in Texas is that I’m able to tell you all of the progressive hot spots in Texas. This was not one of them. Richard Davis and Thurman Bill Bartie are both very nice liberal grandpas and would serve this district well. The young progressive just wasn’t for this district, not this cycle anyway.

Davis pulled in 22,635 votes, and Bartie pulled in 15,961. This is a district that went heavily toward Jasmine Crockett. Without her on the ballot, it’ll be interesting to see how these votes shake out. Davis, a retired tax professional from College Station, and Bartie, the retired former mayor of Port Arthur.

TX17 - Flores vs. Shepard:

Lone Star Left endorsed Milah Flores, who finished with 20,363 votes compared to Casey Shepard’s 15,505 votes. That other guy who had the article about him in Politico is out.

This is Pete Session’s district. He doesn’t live there, but it’s his district anyway. I think this district is flippable in November with enough money and enough elbow grease. It’s in Central Texas, and there are lots of issues to rally behind in that area, most importantly, emergency preparedness. We’ll be watching this race closely as well, because obviously, everyone hates Pete Sessions.

TX18 - Menefee vs. Green:

When I learned that TX18 was going to go into another runoff, I almost cried. This district votes about two to three times per year and has been without representation for long stretches of time. That’s because the last two Representatives who were in office died of old age. And that’s also why Lone Star Left’s endorsement of Christian Menefee still stands.

There are few people in Texas I love more than Al Green. I have sung his praises for many years. But I’m superstitious. And the last two older people who were in TX18 died in office, leaving that seat unfilled for more than a year at a time. I don’t think that’s fair to the people in Houston. And as much as I love 78-year-old Al Green, I’d rather see him retire than use his name in the same sentence as Sheila Jackson Lee and Sylvester Turner.

TX33 - Colin Allred vs. Julie Johnson:

Allred pulled in 31,406 votes, while Johnson pulled in 23,733 votes. I honestly didn’t expect Allred to get so many votes, but now that I think about his switch to this seat specifically and his alignment with Jasmine Crockett, it all makes sense. But if he relied on the Crockett vote to pull him over the edge, what does that look like in a runoff?

Should we address the elephant in the room? What the hell, Zeeshan? Yeesh.

But really, this race is meh now. Both Allred and Johnson are pro-AIPAC; they are both corporate Democrats. Both are pro-oil. Both are wealthy. You’re basically getting the same votes, in my opinion. Good luck, Dallas.

TX35 - Galindo vs. Garcia:

The word on the street is that at the last moment, Johnny Garcia got a bunch of cash and flooded the airwaves. That’s how he wound up with 14,743 votes, compared to Maureen Galindo’s 15,931 votes.

This four-way race was funny. The results were: 29%, 27%, 23%, and 20%. It was very split. The person I endorsed did not make it into the runoff, but the two losing candidates are both coalescing behind Maureen Galindo.

I will have all the deets on this race in the next few days.

SBOE05 - Bush vs. Limon Bazan:

This is a blue seat, and will remain blue, which is no surprise, given that there were six contenders in this election. Allison Bush pulled in 83,648 votes, and Stephanie Limon Bazan pulled in 49,407 votes. That’s all I know about this race.

SBOE09 - Perkinz vs. Drake Ambroise:

This is Julie Pickren’s seat, the J6th-Maga-nut. Whoever wins this runoff will face off against her in November, and better be prepared to win. Tiffany Perkinz got 40,096 votes, and Debra Drake Ambroise got 33,505 votes.

This seat can be flipped. It won’t be an easy flip, but it has to be someone with the time, effort, and resources to make it happen.

HD37 - Ochoa vs. Cantu-Castle:

Oziel "Ozzie" Ochoa Jr., Lone Star Left’s endorsement, finished with 6,515 votes, opposed to Esmeralda "Esmi" Cantu-Castle’s 4,525 votes. Ochoa is the more progressive Democrat in this race.

This is Janie Lopez’s district. We should expect this district to flip in November back to blue. And will count toward one of the 14 we need to flip the Texas House. In fact, I spoke with Kendall Scudder recently and asked him where our target 14 are. He said, “Pfft, you know. It’s common knowledge.” He’s right. And I do know. We’ll talk about it more soon.

HD41 - Salinas vs. Haddad:

Lone Star Left endorsed the progressive in this race, Julio Salinas. The other candidate, Seby Haddad, is rumored to be an undercover Republican. Salina pulled in 6,016 votes, and Haddad pulled in 5,811 votes.

We should expect this district to stay blue, and I would think that the votes from the losing candidate, who was the liberal choice, will wind up with Salinas, who is authentacally himself, and not an undercover Republican pretending to be a Democrat in a blue district, like Haddad allegedly is.

This is one race to watch closely.

HD49 - Garibay vs. Tovo:

Montserrat Garibay is the more progressive of the two candidates here, she pulled in 13,332 votes. In second place, Kathie Tovo, has a reputation of being NIMBY whole on the Austin City Council more than a decade ago, she pulled in 11,419 votes.

There were eight people in this race, we always knew it would end with a runoff. Now who wins this progressive district? The progresssive young labor leader or the local establishment?

HD97 - Symons vs. Llewellyn McLaughlin:

Diane Symons pulled in 7,319 votes, while Beth Llewellyn McLaughlin pulled in 5,342 votes. We have to talk about this race. This one specifically. In detail. Not now. But soon. In March, for sure.

HD100 - Jones vs. Richardson:

This is an interesting race. It’s South Dallas. If you’re familiar with the area, it’s 88% non-Anglo. Incumbent Venton Jones pulled in 8,062 votes, compared to Amanda Richardson’s 5,786.

While Jones isn’t himself progressive, I’m not entirely sure Richardson is either. To be honest, I haven’t looked much into this race. And maybe now they’re in a runoff, I will.

HD125 - Reyna vs. Barrientes Vela:

Adrian Reyna pulled in 7,227 votes. Michelle Barrientes Vela pulled in 6,371 votes. Lone Star Left endorsed Reyna, a young educator and union member. Barrientes Vela was a cop.

But for real, San Antonio. Y’all had the opportunity to get some moderates out this primary season, y’all decided to stick with them. Send some progressives to Austin for the rest of Texas. Do it for us. 🙏🏻

HD131 - Childs vs. Allen:

Staci Childs got 7,224 votes and Lawrence Allen Jr. got 4,370 votes. It was a crowded field. Childs has experience on the State Board of Education and Allen has experience as a Legislator’s son.

Lone Star Left endorsed Staci Childs. We look forward to seeing her win this in May.

HD149 - Vo vs. Breaux:

Hubert Vo, long time incumbent, sort of a background characater, had three primary challengers and ended in a runoff. He secured 3,743 votes. Darlene Breaux, former Alief ISD school board president, secured 3,734 votes.

It was close, which means Vo isn’t safe. Besides my rep, Chris Turner, most other Democratic incumbents were safe. Vo and Venton Jones will be the last to defend their seats. Of course I’m watching this one too. It’ll be a nail-biter.

So that’s the field.

The primaries narrowed things down. Turnout will be smaller, organization will matter more, and the voters who show up in May will decide who carries the Democratic banner into November.

Take a breath if you need one.

Just remember, in Texas politics, there’s always another election right around the corner.

April 2, 2026: Last day to register to vote (City elections)
April 20, 2026: Last day to apply to vote by mail (City elections)
April 20, 2026: First day of early voting (City elections)
April 27, 2026: Last day to register to vote (Democratic primary runoff elections)
April 28, 2026: Last day of early voting (City elections)
May 2, 2026: Last day to receive ballot by mail (City elections)
May 2, 2026: Election day! (City elections)
May 15, 2026: Last day to apply to vote by mail (Democratic primary runoff elections)
May 18, 2026: First day of early voting (Democratic primary runoff elections)
May 22, 2026: Last day of early voting (Democratic primary runoff elections)
May 26, 2026: Last day to receive ballot by mail (Democratic primary runoff elections)
May 26, 2026: Election day! (Democratic primary runoff elections)
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