Election results: How Texans voted in the May 2024 primary runoff
The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to helping you navigate Texas policy and politics — including the 2024 elections. We’re tracking the results of the Texas 2024 primary runoffs on May 28.
Texas voters will finalize the Democratic and Republican candidates that will be on the ballot in the November general election. In 32 races during the March 5 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:
- House Speaker Dade Phelan won his runoff and survived a challenge by Texas GOP’s far-right forces.
- School voucher supporters backed by Gov. Greg Abbott won several pivotal Texas House GOP runoff races, giving the governor a tentative majority in the lower chamber on his signature issue.
- U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales prevailed in his primary runoff against gun influencer Brandon Herrera. However, because he lost by only 407 votes, Herrera has requested a recount.
- Lauren Ashley Simmons declared victory over Texas Rep. Shawn Thierry, who broke with Democrats on LGBTQ+ votes.
- Severe storms knocked out power at North Texas voting sites.
- The Texas Tribune’s “We the Texans” initiative features stories, guides and public events exploring how democracy is experienced and challenged in Texas.
How to read these results
If you share your address below, we’ll personalize the results for you by showing the races you get to vote in. (Don’t worry: We don’t store your information.)
Texas House
The key runoff races this year will be in the Texas House where Attorney General Ken Paxton is seeking revenge against Republicans who voted to impeach him by endorsing their primary challengers. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is also working to unseat the House Republicans who voted against school vouchers, one of Abbott’s top legislative priorities in 2023. In total, eight House Republican incumbents that they targeted were forced into runoffs, including embattled House Speaker Dade Phelan.
Find out if there are any Texas House runoff races in your district.
U.S. House
Texas has 38 congressional seats, and all are up for election, with most incumbents running again. This year, eight nominees will be decided in the runoffs. Republican incumbent Tony Gonzales is facing off against Brandon Herrera, a gun rights YouTuber, in District 23. Meanwhile, voters in District 12 will be deciding who will be the Republican nominee to run for U.S. Rep Kay Granger’s seat.
State Board of Education
There are 15 districts within the State Board of Education, which sets curriculum and chooses textbooks for Texas public schools. Only 7 seats are up for election this year with two incumbents facing runoffs.
Texas Senate
In the 31-member Texas Senate, only 15 seats are up for election in 2024. Three races are heading to runoffs, including the Republican primary to succeed retiring state Sen. Drew Springer and the Democratic primary to succeed John Whitmire, who is now mayor of Houston.
What we’re seeing
Turnout in this year’s runoff election is expected to be low. The latest data published by the Texas Secretary of State shows that turnout for the March primary was lower than it was in 2020, with Republican voter turnout far outpacing Democratic turnout.
Domestic mail-in ballots turned in and postmarked by election day will be counted if they arrive no later than 5 p.m. on May 29. Mail-in ballots from military and overseas voters must be postmarked by election day and arrive no later than June 3. In close races, mail-in votes help determine the winner, which can delay the calling of the race. The certification of final election results is set to be completed by the counties on June 6.
The Texas Tribune’s election data is provided by The Associated Press, which gathers voting information from the secretary of state’s office, county election sites and stringers on the ground in Texas. The AP calls winners and provides estimates on how many votes are left to be counted.
About the data
Election results data provided by The Associated Press.
Candidate information from the Texas Secretary of State’s office, the Texas Democratic Party, the Republican Party of Texas and Texas Tribune research.
Contributions by Emily Albracht and Reagan Hicks.