The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to helping you navigate Texas policy and politics — including the 2022 elections. Here are the election results for the Texas 2022 primary runoffs on May 24.
Texas voters finalized the Democratic and Republican candidates that will be on the ballot in the November general election. In three primary runoffs, candidates requested a recount, which have been completed.
In 50 races in the March 1 primary, no candidate exceeded 50% of the vote, bringing about runoff races between the candidates who came in first and second. The winner in each race will face the other major party’s nominee, as well as possible Libertarian and Green Party candidates. Independent and write-in candidates have until the summer to file their candidacies.
What you should know:
- After a hard-fought runoff, incumbent Henry Cuellar prevailed against Jessica Cisneros in a South Texas race that ended in a recount. In another close South Texas congressional primary runoff race, Democrat Michelle Vallejo beat opponent Ruben Ramirez after a recount.
- Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton easily won the Republican nomination for attorney general against George P. Bush, whose defeat could be the end of the line for a political dynasty in Texas.
- Paxton will face off in November against civil rights attorney Rochelle Garza who secured the Democratic nomination for attorney general. Reproductive rights had been front and center in this race.
- We are expanding our texting line to guide Texans through the November midterm elections. Find out how to sign up for our texting service.
- Texas has new political maps. See which districts your home is in.
How to read these results
If you share your address below, we’ll personalize the results for you by showing the results for races you were able to vote in. (Don’t worry: We don’t store your information.)
Attorney General
The attorney general is the top lawyer in Texas, representing the state in mostly civil litigation. Ken Paxton is seeking a third term, and his tenure has been clouded by a high-profile securities fraud indictment and an FBI investigation into claims of malfeasance while in office. Still, Paxton easily won the runoff against George P. Bush, and his supporters are looking past his mounting scandals.
Rochelle Garza, a former lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union from the Rio Grande Valley, secured the Democratic party’s nomination against Joe Jaworski and will take on Paxton in November.
Lieutenant Governor
The lieutenant governor, the second-highest executive in the state, presides over the state Senate. Mike Collier, the Democratic nominee in 2018, will once again challenge Republican incumbent Dan Patrick in November after Collier defeated state Rep. Michelle Beckley, in the runoff.
Land Commissioner
The land commissioner oversees an agency that manages 13 million acres of state land, administers disaster recovery funds, contributes to public school funding and has administrative control of the Alamo. The race was wide open because incumbent George P. Bush gave up the position when he decided to run for attorney general. Democrat Jay Kleberg and Republican Dawn Buckingham won their primary runoffs and will face off in the November election.
Comptroller
The comptroller is the state official responsible for collecting taxes, overseeing the state treasury and forecasting the amount of money that’s available for the state’s two-year budget. Janet T. Dudding won the Democratic primary runoff Tuesday and will challenge Republican Comptroller Glenn Hegar, who is running for a third term.
Railroad Commissioner
In Texas, the Railroad Commission regulates the oil and gas industry. Members of the three-person board are elected statewide, and one seat is up for election in 2022. While the agency doesn’t typically attract much attention at election time, a semi-nude video, corruption allegations and a fatal crash roiled this year’s GOP primary. Republican incumbent Wayne Christian eventually won against oil and gas attorney Sarah Stogner and will face Democrat Luke Warford in November.
State Board of Education
There are 15 districts within the State Board of Education. Nine are held by Republicans, and six are held by Democrats. This year, four State Board of Education races were decided in the runoffs.
U.S. House
Texas has a new 38-district congressional map that incorporates two new House seats, which the state gained due its explosive growth over the last decade. U.S. representatives serve two-year terms, and 31 sitting members are running again. A total of 14 congressional races had runoffs to decide the nominees. This includes Congressional District 28, where Democratic incumbent Henry Cuellar prevailed against Jessica Cisneros after a recount, and Congressional District 30, where freshman state Rep. Jasmine Crockett won the Democratic nomination against former political staffer Jane Hope Hamilton.
Texas Senate
Every seat in the 31-member Texas Senate will be on the ballot in the November election because the districts were redrawn last year. This year, the nominees of only two state Senate races were decided in runoff races.
Texas House
There are 150 members of the Texas House. Each state representative serves a two-year term. This election takes place under a new map drawn by legislators. This year, 23 state House races were decided in the runoffs.
What we saw
Turnout in this year’s runoff election was expected to be low. Turnout data published by the Texas secretary of state showed that only 8.2% of registered Texas voters cast votes in the 2022 primary runoffs.
Domestic mail-in ballots turned in and postmarked by election day were counted if they arrived no later than 5 p.m. on May 25. Mail-in ballots from military and overseas voters had to be postmarked by election day and arrive no later than May 31. In close races, mail-in votes helped determine the winner, which delayed the calling of the race. The certification of final election results was completed by the counties on June 2 and released by the secretary of state by June 8.
The Texas Tribune’s election data was provided by Decision Desk HQ, which gathered information from the secretary of state’s office and a representative sample of 50 counties. Decision Desk called winners and provided estimates as to how many votes were left to be counted.
About the data
Election results data provided by Decision Desk HQ.
Candidate information from the Texas secretary of state’s office, the Texas Democratic Party, the Republican Party of Texas and Texas Tribune research.
County shapes and city locations provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. Road lines provided by Natural Earth.
Contributions by Emily Albracht, Darla Cameron and Chris Essig.
Disclosure: The Texas secretary of state and the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
Correction: Due to a discrepancy in one county's vote totals, Decision Desk HQ provided incorrect final numbers from June 8-16 for the statewide Democratic and Republican primary runoffs for attorney general, lieutenant governor, land commissioner, comptroller and railroad commissioner. This has been corrected and no reported outcomes were affected.