Texas Republicans will finish out this legislative term with a 99-51 majority after a victory by John Lujan in the special election runoff to fill the unexpired term for HD118. Lujan defeated Thomas Uresti, the brother of State Senator Carlos Uresti, by a 52-48 percent margin.
The election was called to fill the unexpired term after State Representative Joe Farias resigned in August to spend more time with his family. The term will expire in January 2017.
While the margin in the election was almost four percent, Lujan only won the election by a margin of 171 votes. Only 3,601 voters cast ballots in this runoff special election, a 4.12 percent voter turnout.
“We are proud and excited to hear that John Lujan won the runoff election in Texas House District 118,” State Republican Party of Texas Chairman Tom Mechler in a statement obtained by Breitbart Texas. “John has worked around the clock to pick up the seat for Republicans, and we believe his election will foreshadow what is to come in 2016. Our field and engagement staff worked with John Lujan’s campaign to ramp up our outreach efforts in a predominantly Hispanic area of San Antonio.”
The two men will likely face each other again in November, if they both win their respective 2016 primary elections. Lujan will face Robert Casias again in the Republican Primary Election. Casias came in sixth place in the special election with only five percent of the vote. Uresti will face Gabe Farias, the son of the former state rep., in the Democrat Primary Election. In the November 2015 special election, Farias finished in third place, just four points behind Uresti.
Jujan had a seven-point lead over Uresti in that November 2015 special election that led to Tuesday’s runoff election.
The election continues the trend of San Antonio and Bexar County becoming more Republican.
“We are confident that our message is resonating with voters in a critical election year,” the chairman continued. “It is encouraging to see how well our party works when we are united behind our candidate and believe that when Republicans work together, we win. While the fight is far from over, John Lujan’s win tonight represents a great sign of what’s to come this election season.”
Historical and current election results were obtained by Breitbart Texas from the office of the Texas Secretary of State’s website.
The Texas House of Representatives has seen an unusual number of special elections due to vacancies. Yet another special election has been called by Governor Greg Abbott following the resignation from the House by State Rep. Sylvester Turner. Turner was elected mayor of Houston and was sworn in earlier this month creating the vacancy. The special election to fill the unexpired term in House District has been set for May 7, 2016. If a runoff election is required, it will be announced after the May 7 election.
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas and is a member of the original Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.
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