ELECTION NIGHT: Results in Texas

THIS POST WILL BE UPDATED AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE ON ELECTION NIGHT

Celia Israel, the former state representative who was one of the founding members of the LGBTQ Caucus in the Texas House, is in the lead in the six-way race for mayor of Austin. But Israel, who brought in 40 percent of the vote, still likely faces a December runoff against Kirk Watson, who had 35 percent, because no candidate received at least 50 percent of the vote.

Israel, first elected to the state House in 2014, tonight pointed out that she was the top vote-getter tonight despite Watson having raised more than twice as much money in his campaign.

“We did it,” Israel told KUT 90.5, Austin’s NPR station. “The good ol’ boys raised over a million dollars against us, and we said, not today.”

Watson raised more than $1.3 million, while Israel’s campaign brought in less than half that, KUT reported.

Running third in the voting was Jennifer Virden, with 17 percent of the vote. Three other candidates — Phil Brual, Gary Spellman and Anthony Bradshaw — each received 1 percent.

The Texas Tribune has called the Texas governor’s race for incumbent Republican Greg Abbott over Democrat Beto O’Rourke. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton have also won reelection.

UPDATE: State Rep. Jolanda Jones, who earlier this year won a special election to replace longtime state legislator Garnet Coleman who stepped down for health reasons, has won her race to fill the Houston-based District 147 seat in the Texas House for a full term.

When she won the special election in May, Jones became the first Black, openly LGBTQ woman elected to the Texas Legislature.

In District 22, openly LGBTQ candidate Christian Manuel-Hayes has won his race to replace retiring state Rep. Joe Deshotel. Manuel-Hayes was chief of staff for Deshotel in the Beaumont-based district.

Jolanda Jones, Manuel-Hayes and Venton Jones, who has won his race for the Dallas-based District 100 House seat, were The Victory Fund’s three “Spotlight Candidates” for the Texas Legislature.

Victory Fund email congratulating the three said they will bring “historic representation to the Texas Legislature.”

The email continued, “We knew Venton, Christian and Jolanda could make history — and they’ll flex the LGBTQ community’s political muscle fighting for equality in the Texas Legislature.”

Two longtime LGBTQ-allies in Congress — Democrat Marc Veasey in District 33 (Tarrant County) and Colin Allred in District 32 (Dallas County) — have also declared victory in their races for re-election.

Democrat Venton Jones looks to be a shoe-in for the District 100 seat in the Texas House of Representativesm, with 87 percent of the early votes tallying up in his favor, over Libertarian Joe Roberts. If Election Day balloting follows the same trend, as is expected, Jones, who is openly gay, will become the first person with HIV/AIDS elected to the Texas Legislature.

By 7:40 p.m., Emily’s List had sent out an email congratulating Democrat Jasmine Crockett for her victory in the race to replace beloved Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson in representing Texas’ 30th Congressional District. Crockett, who ran with Johnson endorsement, was cruising to victory with 77 percent of the early vote, over Republican James Rodger with 19 percent, Libertarian Phil Gray with 0.81 percent and Independent Zachariah Manning with 2.3 percent. Write-in candidate(s) had about .5 percent.

In the email announcing Crockett’s win, Emily’s List said she has “spent her lifetime advocating fiercely against injustice, and Emily’s List is honored that she’ll continue this district’s legacy of fighting for our rights in Congress. We’re confident that this pro-choice champion will continue work tenaciously for the people of Texas’ 30th Congressional District to defend our reproductive freedoms while building a better future for every Texan.”