The battle for the drastically revamped 25th Congressional District is headed to a runoff, even as a handful of local members of Congress easily won their primaries.
In the 25th District, which stretches from Burleson to Austin, former Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams of Weatherford led the pack of 12 Republicans. But the question for most of the night was who would be joining him in a July 31 runoff.With all 224 precincts reporting, Williams had 25.1 percent. Retired Army officer Wes Riddle of Gatesville finished second, with 14.6 percent, and will face Williams in July. Former Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams of Arlington, widely expected to finish in contention for the runoff, lagged behind with 10.5 percent.Meanwhile, Cleburne Mayor Justin Hewlett garnered 12 percent of the vote, as did former USAA and Halliburton executive Dave Garrison. Former Highland Village Mayor Dianne Costa had 9.4 percent.Roger Williams is a well-known Weatherford auto dealer with deep local roots who recently moved to Austin.As the quest for the 25th District headed to a runoff, U.S. Reps. Joe Barton, R-Ennis, Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, and Kenny Marchant, R-Coppell, breezed to victory in their races, according to unofficial election results.Any race in which no candidate earns 50 percent of the vote heads to a July 31 runoff of the top two vote-getters.Here's how the numbers added up in local congressional races, according to unofficial results from the Texas secretary of state's office.District 6Barton, a longtime congressman, easily beat four challengers, holding on to 63 percent of the vote in complete returns. Former Addison Mayor Joe Chow had almost 20 percent; Arlington accountant Frank Kuchar, 11.4 percent; and Joshua businessman Itamar Gelbman, 5.7 percent."It's really pleasing to listen to what my opponents have said, and watch the voters sift though the chaff and make the decision they've made," Barton said late Tuesday."My record was the issue in the campaign, and I've got a really good conservative record and the voters agreed with me."In the Democratic primary, Kenneth Sanders far outpaced two challengers, with 59 percent of the vote. Brianna Hinojosa-Flores was second with 34.5 percent and Don Jaquess a distant third with 6.3 percent."I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I'm feeling good. My team is feeling good," Sanders said Tuesday. "I feel good about the race ahead. In the campaign this far we talked about not only creating jobs but saving jobs and the need to improve our education system. That message resonated, and I'm confident that message will continue to resonate in the general election."But Sanders faces an uphill slog in the district, which covers parts of Ellis, Navarro and Tarrant counties."The conventional wisdom, and I agree with it, is that the challenge would be in the Republican primary," Barton said."I start out with an advantage and hopefully we'll build in on it. I look forward to going back to Washington with a Republican president, a Republican House and a Republican Senate and do what we've been trying to do."District 12Granger handily won her primary re-election bid, drawing 80 percent of the vote to challenger Bill Lawrence's 20 percent in unofficial returns.Granger, a former Fort Worth mayor who has served in Congress since 1996, said she was grateful for the trust and support of voters Tuesday.Lawrence, a retired Air Force colonel and former three-term mayor of the Denton County town of Highland Village, campaigned on a platform of implementing congressional term limits, making drastic spending cuts and eliminating earmarks.But Lawrence had neither the name recognition in Tarrant and Parker counties nor the finances to mount much of a campaign against Granger, who has never come close to being defeated.She will face Democrat Dave Robinson in November."Everyone in the 12th District can be confident I will continue to stand up for the values that make our community great," Granger said. "That means creating jobs in our community, keeping our C-130s in Fort Worth, cutting spending and protecting our national defense."District 24Marchant easily beat challenger Grant Stinchfield in his re-election bid, 68 percent to 32 percent.Stinchfield, a former TV reporter, hoped to mount the first serious primary challenge to Marchant.Marchant will face Democrat Tim Rusk in November.District 25Democrat Elaine Henderson of Lago Vista will face the GOP primary winner in November.Here's a look at how the other Republican candidates in the 25th District did: Ernie Beltz Jr. of Austin, 1.2 percent; Bill Burch of Grand Prairie, 3.1 percent; James "Patriot" Dillon of Liberty Hill, 2.3 percent; Charlie Holcomb of Wimberley, 3.3 percent; Brian Matthews of Austin, 3.5 percent; and Chad Wilbanks of Austin, son of Grapevine Mayor Pro Tem C. Shane Wilbanks, 3.1 percent.Last year's redrawing of boundaries flipped the district from a Democratic-leaning to a Republican-leaning one -- so much so that the incumbent, Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, switched to nearby District 35 for his re-election bid.The revamped district -- now home to the Comanche Peak nuclear power plant near Glen Rose, Fort Hood near Killeen, the University of Texas at Austin and the Texas Capitol -- draws its biggest population base, about 240,000 voters, from the Austin area.But it also includes 150,000 residents in Johnson County and more than 7,000 in Tarrant County.District 26U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Lewisville, was unopposed in the Republican primary and will face David Sanchez, who was unopposed in the Democratic primary, in November.District 30U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Dallas, easily survived a rare primary challenge Tuesday, beating two challengers who tried ousting one of the longest-serving black members of Congress with the message that she had been in Washington too long.Johnson's victory was among the first congressional races called during a statewide primary that could change the face of Texas in Congress.Republicans were picking a possible successor to Rep. Ron Paul, and Hispanics tried flexing their growing clout.Voters were filling four new U.S. House seats awarded to Texas because of the last decade's population surge, which was driven by Hispanics and which may send other longtime incumbents back home from Washington.Johnson, 76, won't be one of them.She garnered 70 percent of the vote, far outdistancing Barbara Mallory Caraway and Taj Clayton in the 30th District, which Johnson has represented since 1992.That year she became the first black woman from North Texas in Congress.She had not faced a serious primary challenge before this year and received a rare primary endorsement from President Barack Obama.It was only moments after the polls closed that returns showed voters overwhelmingly choosing Johnson."I'm very appreciative of their support and confidence," she told WFAA/Channel 8.Staff writer Chris Vaughn contributed to this report, which includes material from The Associated Press.Anna M. Tinsley, 817-390-7610; Twitter: @annatinsleyTim Madigan, 817-390-7544; Twitter: tsmadiganHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
