The race to fill a Texas Senate seat representing much of Tarrant County appears to be heading to a runoff, according to early voting results Tuesday night.
Fort Worth Democrat Taylor Rehmet and Southlake Republican Leigh Wambsganss are on track to face each other in a Dec. 13 runoff for the remaining term of District 9, according to the unofficial results.
Election Day’s unofficial results are expected to be released later tonight.
Rehmet, an Air Force veteran and union organizer, and Wambsganss, chief communications officer for the Patriot Mobile wireless service provider, received more early votes than Republican John Huffman, former Southlake mayor, the results showed.
Rehmet leads with 44.12% of early votes, while Wambsganss received 40.17%. If no one secures over 50%, the two will face each other in the runoff.
The special election was triggered when Kelly Hancock resigned from the seat to become acting state comptroller. That set off a fast-tracked, high-dollar campaign season of about five months.
Because the race is to fill a vacant seat, no primary was necessary. The winner will serve the remainder of Hancock’s term, which ends in January 2027. They’ll have to win reelection to participate in the next Texas legislative session, set for 2027.
Keller resident Carson West, 67, voted first thing in the morning on Election Day. He said he cast his ballot for Huffman because the candidate seems “fairly conservative,” which West appreciated.
“He just seemed like the better of the three candidates,” West said, standing outside Keller Town Hall.
Senate District 9 was his primary concern at the ballot box. He said he supported most of the proposed constitutional amendments but the list included “nothing that really made me remember them.”
Fort Worth resident Alan Brown, 41, said he cast a vote for Rehmet — not because he was enamored with the Democratic candidate but out of opposition to the Republicans on the ballot. He said he couldn’t support GOP candidates who oppose reproductive freedom and gender-affirming care for transgender Texans, while supporting tax cuts for wealthy residents.
“I feel like the Republicans are just rubbing me the wrong way,” Brown said after voting at the Riverside Community Center in east Fort Worth.
While labeling himself “technically a Democrat,” Brown said he typically picks and chooses candidates based on their values rather than party affiliation. In red Tarrant County, he said local Democrats have to match the Republican party in its organizing prowess and high-dollar donors to flip the county blue.
Rehmet ran a relatively low-budget campaign of about $120,000 raised, compared to Huffman’s and Wambsganss’ raised budgets of $1.35 million and $1.6 million, respectively. The Democrat’s campaign emphasized workers’ rights and was funded mostly by unions and small individual donations. Several Democratic lawmakers made donations in the $1,000 range.
Huffman’s and Wambsganss’s campaigns were largely bankrolled by billionaires.
Mailers from the two Republicans’ supporting PACs attacked the other, alternately criticizing Huffman for faltering on conservative issues or alleging that Wambsganss is insincere on GOP talking points.
If Wambsganss wins, Republicans will continue to represent a seat they’ve held since 1991.
Wambsganss centered her campaign on an endorsement from President Donald Trump, labeling herself as “ultra-MAGA.” Other endorsements include those from Sen. Ted Cruz, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare.
She listed her priorities as lowering property taxes, investing in public safety and border security.
Texans United for a Conservative Majority PAC, a committee started by Republican Texas oil tycoons Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks, contributed $450,000, and $363,250 came from the Texas Senate Leadership Fund, a PAC launched by Patrick.
Huffman’s campaign emphasized lowering property taxes, improving infrastructure and expanding school choice while supporting public school teachers.
His endorsements include those of Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker and the Fort Worth Police Officers Association. A majority of Huffman’s donations came from the Texas Sands PAC, a political action committee pushing for legalized gambling in Texas.
Cecilia Lenzen and Drew Shaw are government accountability reporters for the Fort Worth Report. Contact them at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org and drew.shaw@fortworthreport.org.
