Democrat and union leader Taylor Rehmet has defeated conservative activist Leigh Wambsganss in the special election to fill the District 9 seat in the Texas Senate, which has been empty since last June when Republican Kelly Hancock resigned to take over as Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.
Hancock had held the District 9 seat since 2012. Before that the seat had been in Republican hands since at least the late 1980s, making it one of the most reliably red districts in the state.
With just a few ballots left to count, Rehmet was leading with 57 percent of the vote, compared to Wambsganss’ 42 percent, even though Wambsganss drastically outspent him in the campaign. According to a Jan. 27 report by KERA, Wambsganss raised about $2.5 million overall in her campaign, compared to Rehmet raised a total of $380,626, not counting in-kind services.
As Texas Tribune points out, Texas’ right-wing Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick had “mounted a furious funding push” for Wambsganss in the final days of the campaign, urging Republicans to turn out and vote. Donald Trump also called on Tarrant County GOP voters to support Wambsganss, posting three separate get-out-the-vote messages on social media in the 48 hours preceding the Saturday election, the Tribune notes.
With only 22 months left in the unexpired term Rehmet is filling, he and Wambsganss will likely be facing off again in November for a full four-year term.
— Tammye Nash