In a narrowly divided Congress, every seat counts. A north Texas seat will remain red after a runoff to fill a vacancy.
Two Republican candidates will advance to a runoff as the top two vote-getters in the race for Texas’s 6th Congressional District after no one in the 23-candidate field won an outright majority of votes on Saturday. Susan Wright, wife of the late Rep. Ron Wright, finished with 19 percent of the vote while Jake Ellzey garnered 14 percent. Democrat Jana Lynne Sanchez, whom national media had expected to finish second and then take the seat, finished third with 13 percent and finally conceded on Sunday.
The development will ensure that a conservative will win the seat to represent the northern Texas district following Ron Wright’s death earlier this year. The date of the runoff hasn’t yet been announced. The district covers some southeastern parts of Fort Worth along with some rural areas. The race was seen as the first competitive federal election since President Joe Biden took office.
“Democrats have come a long way toward competing in Texas, but we still have a way to go,” Sanchez said. “Unfortunately, tonight we came up short, and two Republicans will be competing to represent this Congressional district.”
On May 1, Wright issued a statement after her victory: “Let’s go win this!” She also used a hashtag for “Make America Great Again,” Trump’s campaign slogan. On Feb. 7, then-Rep. Ron Wright’s death was listed as from COVID-19 complications, although he had battled cancer for years.
“It’s been challenging at times, but the work goes on and he would want me to do what he did, which is engage with voters, hear what they have to say and talk to them, so that is what we are doing,” Wright said.
Trump had endorsed Wright, telling supporters she “will be strong on the Border, Crime, Pro-Life, our brave Military and Vets, and will ALWAYS protect your Second Amendment.”
Democrats had hoped to flip the Texas seat after former President Donald Trump drew a smaller number of votes in the district than he did in 2016. Trump won the district by three points in 2020, down from 12 points in 2016.
Democrats hold a historically thin margin in the House and Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democrat leadership plan to contest another race in which a Republican won a seat by just a handful of votes in November.
–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice
