Overview and Live Results: Texas Primary Runoff Elections
By 270toWin Staff
May 28, 2024, 10:11 AM ET
For most elections, Texas requires a majority winner. In the March 5 statewide primary, no candidate crossed that threshold in 30 races that we track. This includes eight for the U.S. House and 22 for the Legislature, with 19 of those in the State House.
Runoffs Tuesday will determine party nominees.
On this page, we'll provide an overview and live results for four elections of particular interest. Visit 2024 Texas Primary Runoff Results to see them all.
Polls close at 7:00 PM local time. That's 8:00 PM Eastern for the vast majority of the state; 9:00 PM Eastern for areas in far west Texas.
U.S. House
Eight runoffs will take place. Three of them - all Republican - will have the most significant general election implications.
District 23 (Republican)
This is the only U.S. House runoff with an incumbent at risk.
Rep. Tony Gonzales is seeking a 3rd term. In the March 5 primary, Gonzales received 45% of the vote, with YouTube celebrity Brandon Herrera getting 25% support.
Gonzales got sideways with Texas Republicans after supporting a gun safety bill in the wake of a 2022 mass shooting in Uvalde, which is located in the district. He was censured by the party, and drew four primary challengers.
As this district - the state's largest by land area - is partially in the Mountain Time Zone, no race call will be made before the final polls close at 9:00 PM Eastern.
Highly competitive last decade, the district became more Republican-friendly in redistricting after the 2020 Census; Gonzales was reelected by a 17% margin in 2022. Currently, the general election is rated as Safe Republican. However, a win by the far-right Herrera could put it at least somewhat back on the competitive map.
District 28 (Republican)
This South Texas district became more competitive in the eyes of many forecasters after Rep. Henry Cuellar (D) was indicted earlier this month. Seeking an 11th term, the incumbent had been unopposed for renomination in March.
Advancing from the March Republican primary were physician Jay Furman (45% of the vote) and rancher Lazaro Garza Jr. (27%). As these are both lower-profile candidates, the party - at least to this point - is attempting to leverage Cuellar's troubles as a way to make inroads in other competitive South Texas districts.
District 12 (Republican)
The incumbent Republican, Kay Granger, is retiring after 14 terms in office. In 2022, she won her final race by an almost 30% margin over Democrat Trey Hunt.
Hunt is again the Democratic nominee in 2024. Despite the lack of an incumbent, he isn't likely to fare much better this time around.
As such, the winner of this GOP runoff will most likely be the district's next representative. State Rep. Craig Goldman led the March primary with 44% of the vote; businessman John O'Shea was next with 26%.
Goldman leads in fundraising and endorsements. Both tout conservative credentials, but represent different factions of the GOP. One fault line between the two is around last year's effort to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton. Goldman voted for that, leading to Paxton's endorsement of O'Shea.
The other five U.S. House runoffs involve the out-party in districts that are safe for the incumbent party. As such, all these nominees will be at a distinct disadvantage in the general election. Full results >>
State House
District 21 (Republican)
House Speaker Dade Phelan is seeking a 5th term. He finished slightly behind oil and gas consultant David Covey (46% to 43%) in the March primary.
As the Texas Tribune reported before that primary, "Phelan is fighting the most intense reelection battle of his political career as powerful Republicans have lined up to attack him, including former President Donald Trump and his ally Attorney General Ken Paxton who is hopping mad over the House’s impeachment of him this summer. Phelan’s opponent in the race David Covey also has the support of Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, in addition to the Texas GOP chair Matt Rinaldi."
This has become the most expensive State House race in Texas history.
Upcoming Elections
The final presidential nominating contests are June 4 and 8. Down-ballot primaries will continue through early September. Bookmark the Statewide Primary Calendar for all these dates and links to live results.
- June 4: Aside from New Jersey, the GOP presidential primaries are advisory (i.e., will not be used to apportion delegates).
- June 8:
- June 11
- Maine Primary
- Nevada Primary
- North Dakota Primary
- South Carolina Primary
- Runoff June 25, as needed
- June 18
- Georgia Primary (Runoff)
- Oklahoma Primary
- Runoff August 27, as needed
- Virginia Primary
- June 25
- Colorado Primary
- New York Primary
- Utah Primary
