Moderate Democrats win two key South Texas runoffs, while another is too close to call

[TexasTowelie]

by Patrick Svitek, Texas Tribune


The more moderate Democrats prevailed in two key primary runoffs Tuesday in South Texas, while a third was too close to call.

With Republicans pushing hard to gain seats in what has become a more competitive part of the state, the runoffs carry considerable stakes for Democrats who have seen their hold on deep South Texas — which is predominantly Hispanic and has historically favored Democrats — weaken.

In the race to replace retiring state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville, Morgan LaMantia defeated Sara Stapleton-Barrera in the Democratic primary runoff for Texas Senate District 27. LaMantia got 57% of the vote to 43% for Stapleton-Barrera.

Luis Villarreal beat Ruben Cortez to be the Democratic nominee for Texas House District 37, a new battleground district that Republicans placed in the Rio Grande Valley in the last round of redistricting. Villarreal earned 52% of the vote to Cortez’s 48%.

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2022/05/25/texas-runoff-election-south-texas/