Takeaways from the 2022 midterm primary election in Texas

After months of campaigning, the midterm elections are beginning to take shape as many candidates clinched nominations during Tuesday’s primary.

Though the election was complicated by a large number of rejected mail-in ballots and newly enacted voting restrictions, thousands of Texans turned out to vote on Tuesday.

In Bexar County, Elections Administrator Jacque Callanen said she was “disappointed” by the turnout, with only roughly 40,000 votes cast in San Antonio on Election Day and about 100,000 during early voting.

Though the presidential race isn’t on this year’s ballots, several other important races are, including the governor, attorney general, congressional seats and Bexar County Judge.

In races with more than two candidates, where one failed to win more than 50% of the vote, the top two contenders will advance to a runoff on May 24.

The Democratic and Republican winners from tonight and the runoff will advance to the Nov. 8 general election.

Here’s what you need to know.

Governor

There were no surprises in the gubernatorial primary races at the top of the ticket.

Gov. Greg Abbott easily cruised to victory in the Republican primary on Tuesday night, winning nearly 70% of the vote. Abbott was expected to clinch the nomination despite facing multiple opponents in the race, including former State Sen. Don Huffines and former Congressman Allen West.

On the Democratic ticket, former Congressman Beto O’Rourke clinched the nomination with 92% of the vote.

Though they both faced primary opponents, the nominees have already been campaigning against each other for months. At this point, Abbott is the favorite to win in November.

Attorney General

Despite winning an early endorsement from former President Donald Trump, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was forced into a runoff.

Paxton did lead the way against his opponents, however, with 42% of the vote, with nearly 80% of precincts reporting as of this writing.

In a bitter battle for the second spot, Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush outlasted former Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman with about five percentage points separating the two. (The numbers in the embed below are the most up-to-date.)

The primary race was one of the most bitter contests in the state, with the candidates targeting Paxton, who is under criminal indictment and the subject of an FBI investigation.

The Democratic nomination will also be decided in a runoff. Rochelle Mercedes Garza won 41% of the vote and will face former Galveston mayor Joe Jaworski, who won 22% of the vote. The GOP runoff winner will be the favorite in November.

Congressional District 28

The tight Democratic primary for Congressional District 28 remained too close to call early Wednesday, as of this writing.

Immigration attorney Jessica Cisneros and Congressman Henry Cuellar went back and forth, trading the lead on Tuesday.

While the candidates appear headed to a May 24 runoff, Cisneros could win the Democratic nomination outright if she clears 50%.

See the most up-to-date results below.

Cuellar successfully held off Cisneros two years ago, but the momentum shifted a few months ago when FBI investigators raided the congressman’s home in Laredo. Cuellar maintains his innocence and no charges have been filed.

Tannya Judith Benavides came in third with roughly 4% of the vote. Her voters could make the difference if the Democratic primary goes to a runoff.

Meanwhile, two Republican nominees are headed to a runoff. Cassy Garcia, who won 31% of the vote, will face Sandra Whitten for the nomination.

Bexar County Judge

With stiff competition among the Democratic candidates for Bexar County Judge — the top elected position in the county will be decided in a runoff.

Former District Court Judge Peter Sakai will head into the runoff with momentum, winning 43% of the vote. He will face State Rep. Ina Minjarez, who won 30% of the vote.

Despite winning Mayor Ron Nirenberg’s endorsement and impressive fundraising numbers, former mayoral chief of staff Ivalis Meza Gonzalez came in third with 19% of the vote.

Sakai said he’s already focused on winning over those who didn’t vote for him.

“We know that we need to be good to go for those opponents that don’t make the runoff,” Sakai said. “We’re going to ask their voters to come over and join Team Sakai and we’ll power on.”

Minjarez had a similar mindset on Tuesday night.

“I think we’re going to continue talking about what our priorities are going to be and what the vision is going to be for the county,” she said. “I think it’s going to be up to the voters to decide who they want to lead them in their county.”

The Republican race was quickly decided Tuesday night, with former Bexar County Commissioner Trish DeBerry securing the nomination with more than 65% of the vote.

Whoever wins the general election in November will succeed Nelson Wolff, who has been Bexar County Judge since 2001.

Bexar County District Attorney

It may sound like a rematch from 2018, but it isn’t.

Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales, who ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination, will face Marc LaHood, who beat out former prosecutor Meredith Chacon for the Republican nomination.

Four years ago, Gonzales beat Nico LaHood — Marc’s brother — after a heavily contentious Democratic primary. In that race, Gonzales was the challenger, while Nico LaHood was the incumbent.

This year, Gonzales is the incumbent and Marc LaHood is the challenger.

Congressional District 35

Progressive Austin City Council Member Greg Casar cruised to victory in the Democratic primary for Congressional District 35.

Casar faced opposition from State Rep. Eddie Rodriguez, but Rodriguez only won 17% of the vote, while former San Antonio City Council member Rebecca Viagran came in third with 16% of the vote, as of this writing.

Casar also won among Bexar County voters within the district, pulling in 45%.

Ten candidates sought the Republican nomination in the district. Former Corpus Christi Mayor Dan McQueen led the way with 21% of the vote, with Michael Rodriguez trailing behind with 14% of the vote, resulting in a runoff between the two.

The district, which spans from Austin to San Antonio, is reliably Democratic. The seat opened up after Congressman Lloyd Doggett, who previously represented CD-35, opted to run for Congressional District 37 after redistricting took shape.

Everything else

In statewide races, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick clinched the Republican nomination, while Democrats are going to a runoff. Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian appears to be in a runoff with Sarah Stogner but the race is too close to call while Luke Warford took the Democratic nomination. Agricultural Commissioner Sid Miller won the Republican nomination, while Susan Hays won the Democratic nomination.Congress: GOP Candidate Monica De La Cruz was able to avoid a runoff in Congressional District 15, while Democrats are headed to a runoff. Congressman Tony Gonzales, who clinched the Republican nomination for Congressional District 23, will face Democrat John Lira in November. Chip Roy won the nomination in CD-21.Texas Legislature: Josey Garcia won the Democratic nomination for Texas House District 124, while Johnny Arredondo ran unopposed in the Republican primary. Republicans will see a runoff in Texas House District 122, while Democrat Angi Aramburu won the Democratic nomination. State Rep. Steve Allison clinched the Republican nomination in Texas House District 121, while Becca Moyer DeFelice came out as the Democratic nominee. State Rep. Ryan Guillen, who switched parties from Democrat to Republican last year, won the GOP nomination with nearly 60% of the vote. Republican State Sen. Pete Flores appears to be headed to a runoff with Raul Reyes in Texas Senate District 24.In District Court 285, Nadine Nieto won the Democratic nomination against Lisa Uresti-Dasher.Find local Bexar County races, including judicial seats, here. Find elections from surrounding counties here.

Read more on KSAT 12′s Vote 2022 page.

Man wanted in Bexar County for child sex crime arrested in Jourdanton, police say

A man wanted out of Bexar County for aggravated sexual assault of a child was arrested in Jourdanton, according to police.

John Daniel Hodge, of Lavernia, was located and arrested Tuesday.

Further details on the charge Hodge is facing are limited, but he was taken by law enforcement to the Atascosa County Jail following his capture.

Authorities said he will soon be transferred to Bexar County.

Today Lt. Mari Kaufman and Officer Derek Garcia located and arrested John Daniel Hodge of Lavernia, who was wanted out…

Posted by Jourdanton Police Department on Tuesday, March 1, 2022

Election results 2022: Attorney General, Democrat and Republican primaries

Early voting results will be released at 7 p.m. CST on March 1, 2022.

Get more election results on our homepage and Vote 2022 page. Be the first to know by downloading our newsreader app or signing up for breaking news email alerts.

Background

The below reporting comes from the Texas Tribune’s Patrick Svitek. Read more from this story on the Tribune’s website.

The hottest statewide primary is easily the Republican race for attorney general. Paxton faces three well-known challengers in Texas politics: Land Commissioner George P. Bush, U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert of Tyler and Eva Guzman, a former justice on the Texas Supreme Court.

They are all assailing Paxton over his legal problems, which include a 2015 securities fraud indictment that he is still fighting, plus a more recent FBI probe of claims by former deputies that he abused his office to aid a wealthy donor. He has denied wrongdoing in both cases.

Paxton, who boasts the endorsement of Trump, is hoping for an outright win, but polls show that is not certain. Bush is confident he is headed for a runoff and has been speaking about it as a foregone conclusion in recent days.

However, the primary has turned into a political fog of war in its homestretch. Paxton has been attacking Gohmert, who is most ideologically similar to the incumbent, while Bush and Guzman have been brawling against one another.

Paxton piled on against Guzman on Friday with a last-minute TV ad backed by nearly $1 million. The commercial accuses Guzman of organizing a “woke critical race theory summit” when she was a judge, a reference to a 2016 summit on race and law enforcement that the state’s top two courts hosted after the fatal shooting of a group of Dallas cops earlier that year.

Guzman pushed back with a bevy of digital ads over the weekend, saying, “I oppose CRT — period.” And she has said Paxton’s own office sent a representative to the 2016 event.

Regardless, the late target on her back has raised speculation that she is rising at the end.

“Judging by the actions by my opponent, I think we are doing extremely well,” Guzman told Lubbock radio host Chad Hasty on Friday. “What are you so afraid of, Ken?”

MORE ELECTION COVERAGE FROM KSAT:

Find all election results on our Vote 2022 pageWatch live election night results, reaction with KSAT 12 anchors Steve Spriester and Stephania Jimenez

Think spring for best March sales

March may not have the holiday super sales, but you can still find discounts. Just think spring.

“Retailers use this month to offload the previous year’s inventory to make room for new products and that translates into savings for shoppers,” said Samantha Gordon, Consumer Reports’ deal hunter.

Consumer Reports tracks the prices on its top-rated products all year to know when they sell at their deepest discounts.

If spring cleaning is on your to-do list, March is a good time to find a deal on a vacuum, even a little robotic one.

The iRobot Roomba i3 is now about $500 at Abt Electronics, Amazon, Best Buy and Walmart. That’s about a $100 savings.

If allergies bring spring sneezing, a new air purifier may help. The Blueair Classic 605 is now on sale for about $500 at Amazon. That’s more than $320 off regular price. It’s still a pricey, but it got top marks for removing air particles.

March means it’s about time to tackle the lawn, too.

“Typically, when you think about seasonal items like string trimmers, you think that the sales will come at the end of the season,” Gordon said. “But, if you start shopping very early, like in March, you may see bigger savings as retailers ship consumer focus to the season coming up.”

The Ego Cordless String Trimmer is $179 at Walmart.

As retailers shed their cold-weather products, March can be a good time to find a deal on a space heater, too. The Lasko Designer Series space heater is $65 at The Home Depot.

If you’ve been thinking about replacing your home’s windows, March can be a good time to buy. Windows can be a hefty investment, so be on the lookout for seasonal sales.

More than 40,000 Bexar County voters cast ballot on Election Day, officials say

Thousands of Bexar County voters cast a ballot on Tuesday, but officials say turnout is lower than previous years.

At 4 p.m., Elections Administrator Jacque Callanen said that 42,459 people voted on Tuesday. Callanen said she was hoping Tuesday’s turnout would be 65,000 voters or higher.

“I think we’ll be hard pressed to get to that number, I really do,” Callanen said.

Thousands of Texans have already cast their ballot during the two-week early voting period, while thousands more lined up on Tuesday to vote. The county’s elections department will hold an update around 4 p.m. about how they’re handling operations.

During early voting, 47,169 Bexar County Republicans cast a ballot in the primary, while 50,484 Democrats also cast ballots. That margin is much more narrow than the last midterm in 2018 — when 41,184 Republican primary ballots and 51,917 Democratic primary ballots were cast.

The primary election is also the first time election administrators are operating under new rules after lawmakers passed voting restrictions last year.

The changes have caused confusion this year as election officials have reported rejecting thousands of mail ballots because they did not comply with the new law.

In Bexar County, Callanen said that they have sent out roughly 23,000 mail ballots to voters. Roughly 10% of those voters decided to cancel their ballot and vote in person. Of the 16,000 that have been returned, roughly 35% of them have been rejected, Callanen said.

Before the new law took effect, which requires voters to fill out more information on their mail ballots, that rejection rate was around 3%.

Callanen says her staff has been notifying voters about the rejected mail ballots, and that they have until Monday to cure their ballots.

Polls will remain open until 7 p.m.

Read more:

Bexar County Republicans narrow early vote margin in 2022 primary, data showsBexar County voters talk about importance of votingElection results 2022: All results for Texas and San Antonio-area races, Democrat and Republican primaries

Election results 2022: Local Bexar County races, Democrat and Republican primaries

Early voting results will be released at 7 p.m. CST on March 1, 2022. Scroll within the result embeds to see all races.

Get more election results on our homepage and Vote 2022 page. Be the first to know by downloading our newsreader app or signing up for breaking news email alerts

County Judge, District Attorney, County Clerk, District Clerk, Pct. 4 County Commissioner and judicial races on the ballot.

MORE ELECTION COVERAGE FROM KSAT:

Find all election results on our Vote 2022 pageWatch live election night results, reaction with KSAT 12 anchors Steve Spriester and Stephania Jimenez