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Texas Runoff Results: Lupe Valdez To Challenge Greg Abbott; Allred To Take On Sessions

Gov. Greg Abbott officially has a challenger for the midterm elections. Former Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez has won the Democratic gubernatorial runoff against Houston businessman Andrew White. She is the first openly gay and Latina nominee for Texas governor.

Colin Allred has won the Democratic nomination for U.S. House District 32 — a Dallas-area seat — over Lillian Salerno. Both Democrats worked in the Obama administration, and the race garnered national attention. Allred will go on to challenge Republican incumbent Rep. Pete Sessions in the fall. 

In Collin County, Democrat Lorie Burch has won the U.S. House District 3 runoff. That means her competitor Sam Johnson will not have a chance to replace the retiring Republican Rep. Sam Johnson. She will go on to challenge Plano Republican Van Taylor in November. He stepped down from his state Senate seat to run for Congress.

Elsewhere in North Texas, a congressional race that started with 16 candidates has been narrowed to two. Democrat Jana Lynne Sanchez and Republican Ron Wright will face off in the fall for retiring Rep. Joe Barton's District 6 seat.

Find more results from the Texas primary runoffs below.

Governor (Democrat)

Result: Lupe Valdez has won the Democratic gubernatorial runoff against Andrew White. She won about 53 percent of the vote. Valdez will take on Gov. Greg Abbott in November.

Background: Houston businessman Andrew White and former Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez are the remaining Democratic candidates for governor after the primary weeded out seven other hopefuls. The winner of the Democratic primary runoff advances to the fall election. Incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott easily won the Republican nomination. He’s raised more than $40 million for his re-election campaign. Valdez served as sheriff for 13 years and spent decades in law enforcement. Andrew White is the son of former Texas Gov. Mark White, who died last August. The Democratic opponents held their first and only debate on May 11. More on the gubernatorial race.

U.S. House District 3 (Democrat)

Result: Lorie Burch easily won the District 3 Democratic runoff, with about 75 percent of the vote. She will challenge Republican Van Taylor in November.

Background: In early 2017, Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Richardson, announced he would retire after 26 years in Congress. Texas’ 3rd Congressional District is strongly Republican and covers much of Collin County, including McKinney, Plano, Frisco and a portion of Dallas. Coincidentally, another man named Sam Johnson, an attorney, is running as a Democrat for the Plano-based seat against Democrat Lorie Burch, who’s also an attorney. Whoever wins the runoff will face Plano Republican Van Taylor in November. He stepped down from his state Senate seat to run for Congress. More on the District 3 runoff.

U.S. House District 5 (Republican)

Result: Lance Gooden has won the District 5 Republican runoff. He received about 53 percent of the vote. He will face Democrat Dan Wood in the fall.

Background: Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Dallas, announced last fall that he would retire after 14 years in Congress. Texas’ 5th Congressional District includes part of southeast Dallas County, including Mesquite, and stretches cross Anderson, Cherokee, Henderson and Kaufman counties. The race to fill the open seat was crowded with eight Republican primary candidates. The runoff will determine if either Lance Gooden or Bunni Pounds will face lone Democrat Dan Wood in the fall. Gooden left his District 4 seat in the Texas House to run for Congress. Pounds, a GOP fundraiser, has been endorsed by Hensarling. More on the District 5 runoff.

U.S. House District 6 (Democrat and Republican)

Result: Democrat Jana Lynne Sanchez and Republican Ron Wright have won their respective runoff races for U.S. House District 6. Sanchez got about 53 percent of the Democratic vote, while Wright got about 52 percent of the Republican vote. They will face each other in the fall.

Background: After Rep. Joe Barton, R-Ennis, announced he was retiring amid a scandal, 16 candidates — 11 Republicans and five Democrats — competed in the March primary for the open seat. In the Democratic primary runoff, Jana Lynne Sanchez, a public relations consultant, will face off against Ruby Faye Woolridge, a retired teacher who ran for the seat in 2016. More on the Democratic runoff

On the Republican side, former Navy pilot Jake Ellzey will compete against Ron Wright, a former staffer to Barton and Arlington City Council member. Wright stepped down as the Tarrant County Tax Assessor to run. Barton’s been in office for more than three decades, making him the longest-serving Texan in Congress. Texas 6th Congressional District stretches from Arlington in Tarrant County through Ellis and Navarro Counties. More on the Republican runoff.

U.S. House District 32 (Democrat)

Result: Democrat Colin Allred easily won the District 32 runoff. He got nearly 70 percent of the vote. He is set to challenge Republican incumbent Rep. Pete Sessions in November. 

Background: Democrats Colin Allred and Lillian Salerno are vying to challenge Republican incumbent Pete Sessions in November. Both Allred and Salerno are Obama administration alumni. Allred, also a former NFL linebacker, worked as a civil rights lawyer in the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Salerno was a political appointee in the Agriculture Department. During the 2016 presidential election, more District 32 voters cast votes for Hillary Clinton. But Sessions has been in Congress for two decades. A former head of the National Republican Congressional Committee, Sessions is a strong fundraiser with more than $1 million in the bank. Texas’ 32nd Congressional District covers northern Dallas and areas to the north and east. More on the District 32 runoff.

Texas House District 107 (Republican)

Result: Republican Deanna Maria Metzger has won the runoff race. She'll face incumbent Victoria Neave in the fall.

Background: Businesswoman and Mesquite native Deanna Maria Metzger and Joe Ruzicka, a Navy veteran and resident of East Dallas, are competing for the Republican nomination for Texas House District 107. The district covers parts of Mesquite, Garland and Dallas. The winner will face Democratic incumbent Victoria Neave in November.

Texas House District 109 (Democrat)

Result: Carl Sherman Sr. has defeated Deshaundra Lockhart Jones. With no GOP challengers, he is all but certain to be the next representative in Texas House District 109.

Background: Business owner Deshaundra Lockhart Jones and Carl Sherman Sr., the former mayor of DeSoto, are hoping to replace longtime state Rep. Helen Giddings, D-Desoto, who’s retiring from the Texas House after 13 terms. No Republicans are running, so the runoff will determine the next representative of Texas House District 109, which wraps around Dallas to the south.

Texas House District 64 (Democrat)

Result: Andrew Morris has won the Texas House District 64 runoff. He will  face Lynn Stucky in the fall. 

BackgroundAndrew Morris, a native of Yorkshire, England who works a software company, and financial adviser Mat Pruneda of Denton are competing for the Democratic nomination in the state House race. District 64 represents Denton and parts of surrounding towns. The runoff winner will face Republican incumbent Lynn Stucky in the fall.

Tarrant County Tax Assessor-Collector (Republican)

Result: Republican Wendy Burgess has defeated Mike Synder in the county tax assessor runoff with all precincts reporting. She'll face Democrat Ollie Anderson in the fall.

Background: Ron Wright left his position as tax assessor to run for Congress. Former KXAS-TV anchorman Mike Snyder and former Mansfield councilwoman Wendy Burgess are competing for the Republican nomination. The winner will face Democrat Ollie Anderson in November. The Tarrant County Tax Assessor’s office calculates taxes due, sends out the bills, collects the money and sends revenue collected to the taxing entities, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Dallas County Commissioners Court (Republican)

Result: With all precincts reporting, J.J. Koch has beaten Vickers Cunningham by just 25 votes.

BackgroundDallas attorney J.J. Koch and former state District Judge Vickers "Vic" Cunningham are in a runoff for the Republican nomination for northern Dallas County's Precinct 2. Cunningham has made headlines recently for admitting he set up a living trust with a clause rewarding his children if they marry a white person. Whoever wins the runoff will face Democratic challenger Wini Cannon in the fall. With the retirement of longtime Commissioner Mike Cantrell, the seat is vacant for the first time since 1994. The court is divided into four districts and commissioners each serve a four-year term. More about the Dallas County Commissioners Court.

Dallas County Democratic judges

Result: Martin Hoffman, Bridgett Whitmore, Paula Rosales and Pamela Luther have won their respective judicial races with all precincts reporting.

Background: Three incumbent Democratic judges in Dallas County risk losing their court after the primary forced them into runoffs. Martin Hoffman, who presides over the 68th District Court, and attorney Kim Brown will meet in a runoff. In the 193rd District Court, state District Judge Carl Ginsberg is in a runoff with attorney Bridgett Whitmore. County Court at Law Judge Ken Tapscott is in a runoff with attorney Paula Rosales. And in court No. 2 of the Criminal Court of Appeals, attorneys Pamela Luther and Marilynn Mayse will square off. There are no Republican challengers.

Election returns

Review voting totals and percentages in key races with this election scoreboard, courtesy of The Texas Tribune.

More election results