Brother of Convicted Democrat Texas Senator 'Contemplating' Run for Vacated Seat

Tomas Uresti tweeted he is “contemplating” running for the Texas State Senate seat vacated when his brother resigned following 11 felony convictions.

“I’ve been asked to run for the Texas Senate 19 seat vacated by my brother Senator Carlos Uresti (Contemplating),” Tomas Uresti tweeted Sunday afternoon.

His brother, now former State Senator Carlos Uresti, resigned the SD 19 Senate seat last week after months of pressure from both sides of the aisle to step down following his federal felony convictions on February 22, Breitbart Texas reported.

Spinning the best possible light on his resignations, Texas State Senator Carlos Uresti (D-San Antonio) wrote, “As you know, I am in the process of ensuring that justice is served. I need to attend to my personal matters and properly care for my family. So, keeping in mind the best interests of my constituents and my family, I believe it to be most prudent that I step down from my elected office to focus on these important issues.”

Tomas Uresti currently serves in the Texas House of Representatives. He represents the people of House District 118. However, the one-term representative was defeated in the 2018 Democratic Primary election by Juan Lujan who previously held the seat until defeated by Uresti in 2016. Uresti lost the primary race by a margin of 57-42 percent.
In addition to the tweet, the representative also posted the announcement on his Facebook page.

On June 21, Texas Governor Greg Abbott officially called an emergency special election to fill the unexpired term of the convicted state senator.

“The indictment and ultimate conviction of Senator Uresti for fraud and money laundering has already left District 19 without effective representation in the Texas Senate for over a year,” said Abbott in the announcement. “With the 86^th Legislative Session approaching, and ongoing interim legislative committee hearings, it is imperative to fill this vacancy to ensure that Senate District No. 18 is fully represented as soon as possible.”

Texas State Representative Roland Gutierrez and former U.S. Representative Pete Gallego already announced their intention to file for the special election to replace Uresti.

Tomas Uresti is apparently — “Contemplating.”