Texas’ Republican primary race for attorney general will head to a runoff between State Sen. Mayes Middleton and U.S. Rep. Chip Roy. Middleton led Roy by roughly 10 points at the time of publication, with neither candidate surpassing the required 50 percent threshold.
Pre-election polling and betting markets had Roy leading the race, though a runoff with Middleton was still widely expected. Middleton took a commanding lead from the time reporting started—a lead that never ceased.
A candidate must secure more than 50 percent of the vote to avoid a runoff in Texas. The runoff consists of the party’s top two primary candidates—in this case, Middleton and Roy.
State Sen. Joan Huffman of Houston and former U.S. Department of Justice official Aaron Reitz each received less than 15 percent of the vote, quickly falling out of contention.
Attorney General Ken Paxton had endorsed Reitz to be his successor. He resigned from a Trump-appointed and Senate-confirmed position in the DOJ after only a couple of months on the job to pursue the attorney general seat.
Reitz voters are largely expected to support Middleton in a runoff, as Reitz had been aggressively highlighting Roy’s uneasy relationship with President Donald Trump, though the president did state that Roy was “doing a good job” at a rally in Corpus Christi last week.
Trump has also complimented Middleton’s record on conservative issues, calling him a “MAGA Champion.” Trump has yet to make an endorsement in the race.
Huffman will remain a state senator. It is unclear who her voters will favor in the runoff.
The runoff election will be held on May 26, with early voting from May 18-22. Middleton and Roy now have more than two months for additional campaigning.
Whoever wins the Republican primary runoff will face a Democrat in November. It is unclear who that Democrat will be as of publication since none of the three candidates have won more than 50 percent of the vote.
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