State Rep. Vicki Truitt of Keller, who was first elected to the Texas Legislature in 1999, lost her re-election bid in the District 98 Republican primary against Giovanni Capriglione.
Capriglione banked on consolidated support from the veteran legislator's opponents.He beat Truitt by 56 percent to 44 percent in unofficial returns. It was a dramatic reversal from two years ago when the Keller Republican easily defeated him.Capriglione could not be reached.Truitt said she left Capriglione a message congratulating him. She said it's important that Capriglione serve the district and not be swayed by people outside the district."This is not about power," Truitt said. "It's about service."Truitt wasn't the only Republican incumbent in a tough fight. State Rep. Barbara Nash of Arlington, who saw her district dramatically redrawn, fell short of a runoff. She lost to challenger Matt Krause in the District 93 race.Krause had 50.7 percent while Nash had 37.6 percent and Patricia "Pat" Carlson had 11.7 percent.Nash had seen her support of Speaker Joe Straus made an issue in the race.District 93 was redrawn to stretch from Arlington all the way to Haslet. Krause will face Democrat Shane Hardin in the general election in November.District 90State Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, beat Fort Worth school board member Carlos Vasquez.Burnam won 52 percent of the vote while Vasquez had 48 percent. Vasquez argued that Burnam, who has been in office since 1997, no longer represents the views of the increasingly Hispanic district.Burnam, meanwhile, touted his experience and contended that Vasquez's temperament was not suited to the Legislature based on comments he made about the Fort Worth school board.District 91Former North Richland Hills Mayor Pro Tem Ken Sapp, with 40 percent, and former Tarrant County GOP Chairwoman Stephanie Klick, who had 32 percent, will meet in runoff in the GOP primary to succeed state Rep. Kelly Hancock in the 91st District.Birdville school board member Charles Scoma had 15 percent and Lady Theresa Marie Thombs, a Realtor who does overseas evangelical missions, had 14 percent.District 92Political newcomer Jonathan Stickland, whose endorsements included the NE Tarrant Tea Party and the Texas Right to Life PAC, beat Bedford Councilman Roger Fisher in the GOP primary to represent House District 92, which is centered in Hurst-Euless-Bedford.Stickland had 60 percent to Fisher's 40 percent in unofficial returns.District 94State Rep. Diane Patrick, R-Arlington, won re-election with 75 percent of the vote over challenger Trina Lanza, an Arlington businesswoman, who had 25 percent.Lanza had said she decided to run after she approached Patrick with an undisclosed problem with her business and said she got no help.Patrick said she had no recollection that a meeting occurred.District 95In the Democratic primary to replace state Rep. Marc Veasey, who is running for the Congressional District 33 seat, Nicole Collier, a civil attorney, had 48 percent of the vote while Jesse Gaines, an attorney, had 38 percent. They will meet in a runoff in July.Dulani "Jamal" Masimini, a Forest Hill councilman, picked up 13 percent of the vote.The candidates had stressed job creation and education as key issues for the district. The winner of the runoff faces Republican Monte Mitchell in the November general election.District 96State Rep. Bill Zedler easily defeated Mansfield school district Police Chief Mike Leyman, 63 percent to 37 percent.Zedler, R-Arlington, is seeking his fourth term in District 96, which includes parts of Arlington, Mansfield and Kennedale.He claimed to be the more conservative choice in his race against Leyman, who has also served on the Mansfield City Council.District 97Craig Goldman beat Susan Todd and Chris Hatch to win the Republican primary.Goldman had 55 percent of the votes counted, Todd had 36 percent, and Hatch 9 percent in unofficial returns.Goldman portrayed himself as the true conservative over Todd.Hatch, who served several years on the Fort Worth school board, got into the race late and raised little money.Goldman faces Democrat Gary Grassia in the November general election.District 101In a race that featured two former state representatives, Chris Turner, with 53 percent, beat Paula Pierson, with 34 percent, while small-business owner Vickie Barnett had 13 percent of the vote.Pierson, 60, represented District 93 from 2006 to 2010 before losing to Barbara Nash. Turner represented District 96 from 2009 to 2011 before losing to Bill Zedler.Bill Hanna, 817-390-7698; Twitter: @fwhanna
