MJ Hegar headed to runoff to face Cornyn in Senate, but who will join her still close
For updates on race results, please check our most recent reporting here.
MJ Hegar held onto her early lead overnight in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, while the race for who would join her in a runoff was close Wednesday morning.
With about 99.5% of polling places reporting, Hegar, a retired Air Force pilot, had 22.36% of the vote. Coming up behind her, state Sen. Royce West was in second with 14.53%, and labor organizer Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez was in third with 13.26%, according to the Secretary of State’s unofficial results around 1:40 p.m.
Shortly before 9 a.m. Wednesday, both Tzintzún Ramirez and West tweeted that the race was still too close to call.
“I value the input of every single Texas voter, so we will wait until every vote is counted before we declare the results of this race,” Tzintzún Ramirez wrote.
Meanwhile, the Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn declared victory in the Republican primary early Tuesday night over his four challengers.
To secure the Republican or Democratic nomination, a candidate must earn more than 50% of the vote. Otherwise, the top two finishers advance to a primary runoff election on May 26 — a little more than five months ahead of November’s general election.
Hegar, who gained the early lead and held onto it as the night went on, addressed her supporters around 10 p.m. Tuesday at an election night watch party in Austin, confident in her position.
“Hundreds of thousands of people across the state tonight have stood with us, and I am really excited to tell you we are walking into the runoff in the strongest possible position, thanks to the army of people across the state,” Hegar said.
Some Texans were still waiting in line to cast their ballots at polling places across the state late Tuesday when former state Sen. Royce West tweeted shortly after 10:30 p.m. that he would issue a statement on the race’s outcome Wednesday morning “as final results become more clear.”
“We do not expect that we will have a clear enough picture of results this evening to call it one way or the other,” West wrote.
Tzintzún Ramirez was still with supporters at an election night watch party in Austin around 11 p.m. and said that the close margins for a runoff speak to the “incredible momentum and interest” the race has generated.
Earlier in the night, Tzintzún Ramirez addressed her supporters and touted her early lead in the counties of Travis, Bexar, Cameron and El Paso.
“I know that I was underestimated by people in Washington,” like the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Tzintzún Ramirez said, referring to the group’s endorsement of Hegar. “But you know what, I’m used to being underestimated.”
The dozen Democratic candidates have jostled to distinguish themselves from the crowd, with a University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs poll from February finding over a third of likely Democratic primary voters were undecided at the time.
Recent polls had placed Hegar as the candidate with the most support among Democratic primary voters, but it remained to be seen who would secure the next top spot to move onto the likely runoff. Tzintzún Ramirez, West, and former Houston City Councilwoman Edwards were among the next top candidates late Tuesday night as votes were still being tallied.
While the Democratic candidates have raised millions — with Hegar raking in the most with over $3.8 million — their fundraising pales in comparison to the more than $11.6 million Cornyn has raised since the start of 2019.
Cornyn, who has represented Texas in the Senate since 2002, defeated four little-known challengers for the Republican party’s nomination as expected.
Speaking at his election night watch party in Austin, Cornyn celebrated the “incredible grassroots machine” he said will propel him to victory in the November election.
Cornyn told supporters that Texas faces “the referendum of our lifetimes,” in a race that isn’t just between political parties, but a race “for who we are as a state and who we are as a nation.”
“Will Texans abandon the principles that have made our state the envy of the nation in order to live under the strangled hold of socialism?” Cornyn asked, to shouts of “no” and “absolutely not” from the crowd.
Cornyn vowed to continue to work toward electing Republicans — starting with President Donald Trump.
But Hegar, the leading Democrat Tuesday night, had a message for Cornyn.
“Your time is done, because you sold us out. We’ve given you plenty of time, and it’s over,” Hegar said. “You’re fired. Pack it up, buttercup.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
This story was originally published March 3, 2020 at 7:38 PM.
