Texas Association of Broadcasters
03/09/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 03/09/2026 15:34
May 26 Texas Primary Runoff Election Takes Shape
posted on 3.09.2026
The Texas primary election has come and gone, leaving a number of races for Republicans and Democrats to resolve on Tuesday, May 26.
Of the 200+ statewide, statehouse and congressional offices up for a vote in party primary elections last week, there are now more than 30 statewide, statehouse, and congressional contests still to be decided by Republicans and Democrats.
Texas law requires a candidate to receive a majority-defined as 50 percent plus one vote-to win a primary election outright. If no candidate achieves this, a runoff election is held between the top two vote-recipients.
In some cases, the vote total between the second and third place recipients is close enough that a vote recount may be requested. While the unofficial results from last week's election are known, typically there are mail-in and provisional ballots that have yet to be counted or rejected in such tight races, sometimes numbering into the hundreds.
The request to recount must happen within three days after the vote canvass. The required margin to qualify for a recount is less than 10 percent of the winning candidate's vote. Each political party's state chair must canvass that party's races by March 15.
There are three races, two Republican and one Democrat, in which a recount is possible. These races and the current vote margin separating the second and third candidates is noted below.
One of the Republican primary runoff contests was resolved by the decision of TX 23 U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio, to withdraw from the contest after he admitted to an extramarital affair. Gonzales finished second to Brandon Herrera, R-Helotes, by approximately 900 votes.
For Texas stations it means another intense period of candidate and issue news coverage. The 45-day FCC-mandated political window for the May 26 runoff begins on Saturday, April 11.
Republican Party primary runoff election races
GOP voters will have three statewide races and 15 congressional and statehouse races to decide in the primary runoff election. Incumbents are bolded.
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MAY 26 REPUBLICAN PARTY PRIMARY RUNOFF ELECTION RACES |
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STATEWIDE |
U.S. Senate |
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-San Antonio, vs. |
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STATEWIDE |
Attorney General |
SD 11 St. Sen. Mayes Middleton, R-Galveston, vs. |
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STATEWIDE |
Railroad Commissioner |
RRC Chairman Jim Wright, R-Orange Grove, vs. |
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AUSTIN |
TX 37 |
Ge'Nell Gary, R-Austin, vs. |
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CORPUS CHRISTI |
SD 19 |
Marcus Cardenas, R-Corpus Christi, vs. |
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DFW |
TX 30 |
Everett Jackson, R-Desoto, vs. |
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DFW |
TX 32 |
Ryan Binkley, R-Dallas, vs. |
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DFW |
TX 33 |
Patrick David Gillespie, R-Dallas, vs. TBD |
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HOUSTON |
TX 16 |
Adam Bauman, R-El Paso, vs. |
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HOUSTON |
TX 7 |
Alexander Hale, R-Houston, vs. |
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HOUSTON |
TX 9 |
HD 128 St. Rep. Briscoe Cain, R- Deer Park, vs. |
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HOUSTON |
TX 38 |
Jon Bonck, R-Houston, vs. |
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HOUSTON |
HD 126 |
Kelly Peterson, R-Spring, vs. |
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LUBBOCK |
TX 19 |
Tom Sell, R-Lubbock, v. TBD |
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SAN ANTONIO |
TX 35 |
Carlos De La Cruz, R-Universal City, vs. |
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SOUTH TEXAS |
HD 37 |
Oziel "Ozzie" Ochoa Jr.,D-Harlingen, vs. |
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SOUTH TEXAS |
HD 40 |
Celeste Cabrera-Huff, R-Edinburg, vs. |
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SOUTH TEXAS |
HD 41 |
Sergio J. Sanchez, R-McAllen, vs. |
Democratic Party primary runoff election races
Democratic Party voters will have two statewide races and 14 congressional and statehouse races to decide in the primary runoff election. Incumbents are bolded.
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MAY 26 DEMOCRATIC PARTY PRIMARY RUNOFF ELECTION RACES |
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STATEWIDE |
Lt. Governor |
HD 47 St. Rep. Vikki Goodwin, D-Austin, vs. |
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STATEWIDE |
Attorney General |
SD 16 St. Sen. Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas, vs. |
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TYLER |
TX 1 |
Yolanda Prince, D-Tyler, vs. |
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AUSTIN |
HD 49 |
Kathy Tovo, D-Austin, vs. |
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DFW |
TX 5 |
Chelsey Hockett D-Terrell, vs. |
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DFW |
TX 24 |
Kevin Burge D-North Richland Hills, vs. TBD |
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DFW |
TX 33 |
Former TX 32 U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, vs. |
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DFW |
HD 97 |
Diane Symons, D-Benbrook, vs. |
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HOUSTON |
TX 14 |
Richard Davis, D-Dickinson, vs. |
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HOUSTON |
TX 18 |
TX 18 U.S. Rep. Christian Menefee, D-Houston, vs. |
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HOUSTON |
HD 131 |
Lawrence Allen, Jr., D-Houston, vs. |
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HOUSTON |
HD 149 |
HD 149 St. Rep. Hubert Vo, D-Houston, vs. |
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SAN ANTONIO |
TX 35 |
Maureen Galindo, D-San Antonio, vs. |
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SAN ANTONIO |
HD 125 |
Adrian Reyna, D-San Antonio, vs. |
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SOUTH TEXAS |
HD 41 |
Victor "Seby" Haddad, D-McAllen, vs. |
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WACO / TEMPLE / |
HD 17 |
Milah Flores, D-Diboll, vs. |
May 2 municipal and school board elections
Some Texas cities and local school boards will utilize the Saturday, May 2, uniform election date to conduct their elections. The 60-day FCC-mandated political window for these election races opened March 3.
TAB member station political broadcast resources
TAB has created a special page in the Members-Only portion of the TAB website to provide a full suite of resources to assist stations with the FCC's political broadcast obligations. It's called the TAB Political Toolkit and station staff may access it here.
The TAB Political Toolkit includes:
- TAB's legal guide to the FCC's Political Broadcast Rules
- TAB's Political Forms
- TAB's 2026 Political Dates and Offices Up for Election Primer
- A recording of the Jan. 20 TAB FCC Political Broadcast Rules webinar featuring attorney Scott Flick, a partner with TAB's FCC legal counsel, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman
Other resources include the TAB legal hotline for Texas broadcasters' routine questions on compliance with the FCC's political broadcast regulations, and the TAB Political Update emails.
The latter are regular email dispatches to TAB member stations containing Texas political race news and background information on the primary and general elections. These emails detail competitive primary and general election races, from the candidates running for an office, to the campaign factors that might affect the outcome of those political contests. TAB is the only state broadcast association that prepares a report of this depth and type for its member stations.
The emails go to TAB member station GMs, GSMs LSMs and NDs. At a station's request, TAB also adds specific station staff handling political advertising or news coverage to the email distribution list.
If there are specific individuals at your station overseeing political advertising or political/election news coverage who should be on the distribution list, forward their name and station email to TAB and they will be added to the distribution list.
Questions? Contact TAB's Michael Schneider or call (512) 322-9944.
Texas Association of Broadcasters published this content on March 09, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on March 09, 2026 at 21:34 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]