Moderate Democrats win two key South Texas runoffs, while another is too close to call

by Patrick Svitek, Texas Tribune


The more moderate Democrats prevailed in two key primary runoffs Tuesday in South Texas, while a third was too close to call.

With Republicans pushing hard to gain seats in what has become a more competitive part of the state, the runoffs carry considerable stakes for Democrats who have seen their hold on deep South Texas — which is predominantly Hispanic and has historically favored Democrats — weaken.

In the race to replace retiring state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville, Morgan LaMantia defeated Sara Stapleton-Barrera in the Democratic primary runoff for Texas Senate District 27. LaMantia got 57% of the vote to 43% for Stapleton-Barrera.

Luis Villarreal beat Ruben Cortez to be the Democratic nominee for Texas House District 37, a new battleground district that Republicans placed in the Rio Grande Valley in the last round of redistricting. Villarreal earned 52% of the vote to Cortez’s 48%.

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2022/05/25/texas-runoff-election-south-texas/