Republican Pete Flores has won the special election for Texas Senate District 19 — a seat previously held by Carlos Uresti. Flores will serve the remainder of Uresti’s term, which lasts through 2020.
RELATED | Experts Say Senate District 19 Win Critical For Republicans
9:29 p.m. — Flores has won SD19 ...
9:15 p.m. — Flores preparing for a victory speech ...
With 90 percent of precincts reporting and Flores with a nearly 2,700 vote lead, the Republican candidates looks like he will win the #SD19 race. @TPRNews. We are expecting a speech shortly. pic.twitter.com/Y0FLzdaBKv
— Joey Palacios 😷 (@Joeycules) September 19, 2018
9:11 p.m. — With more than 90 percent reporting ...
9 p.m. — A musical interlude.
#SD19 Republican candidate Pete Flores is serenaded by mariachis at Don Pedro’s. As of this tweet Flores leads 51 %to 48% over Democrat Pete Gallego. Most of the total is early vote at the moment. @TPRNews pic.twitter.com/Y6LjlEKuaY
— Joey Palacios 😷 (@Joeycules) September 19, 2018
8:58 p.m. — Gallego closes to within 2-1/2 percent, with 292 of 339 precincts reporting.
8:31 p.m. — Flores opens his lead to more than 3 percent.
8:20 p.m. — Flores remains ahead 51 to 48 percent. Much of the total remains from the early vote, with 110 of 339 precincts reporting.
8 p.m. — Flores has opened up a 13,424 to 11,828 lead over Gallego with 24 of 339 precincts reporting. About half of the votes from Flores and Gallegos are from Bexar County’s early vote.
7:45 p.m. — TRP's Joey Palacios interviews Flores.
A quick interview with Republican Pete Flores. At this moment he and Democrat Pete Gallego are nearly tied. It’s early and we will see this election probably switch back and forth. #SD19 @TPRNews. pic.twitter.com/eLP8XM991v
— Joey Palacios 😷 (@Joeycules) September 19, 2018
7:41 p.m. — Early voting results: Rep. Pete Flores leads by less than a point after early voting and with 10 precincts reporting.
7 p.m. — Polls closed
It’s election night for #SD19! Tonight will know who represent 17 counties in the Texas Senate. On the ballot are democrat Pete Gallego and Republican Pete Flores. I’m at Flores’ campaign party now. @TPRNews pic.twitter.com/2y2ywE3jl0
— Joey Palacios 😷 (@Joeycules) September 18, 2018
Original Post
It's Election Day in the special election runoff to replace former state Sen. Carlos Uresti in Texas Senate District 19.
Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday. The winner represents SD 19, which covers more than 400 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border and encompasses roughly 17 counties, including parts of Bexar, Atascosa and Medina.
Democrat Pete Gallego, a former U.S. and state representative, and Republican Pete Flores, a retired game warden, emerged as the top two vote-getters in the July 31 special election.
The winner will serve the remainder of Uresti’s term, which lasts through 2020.
Uresti resigned after being found guilty of 11 felonies, including securities fraud and money laundering. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison and later vacated his seat.
In July, Flores received 34 percent of the vote, while Gallego got 29 percent. State Rep. Roland Gutierrez, who was eliminated from the runoff, received 24 percent.
MORE | Early voting totals, according to the San Antonio Express-News
- Atascosa: 1,390
- Bexar: 8,430
- Brewster: 1,149
- Crockett: 188
- Dimmit: 288
- Edwards: 128
- Frio: 217
- Kinney: 166
- Maverick: 786
- Medina: 2,659
- Pecos: 408
- Real: 292
- Reeves: 278
- Terrell: 45
- Uvalde: 887
- Val Verde: 1,447
- Zavala: 197
The winner will represent SD 19, which covers more than 400 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border and encompasses roughly 17 counties, including parts of Bexar, Atascosa and Medina.
Vince Kong can be reached at vkong@tpr.org or on Twitter@teamvincek
