For only the second time in the history of Texas’ 19th Senate District, a Republican occupies the seat.
On Tuesday night, Peter Flores defeated former Congressman Pete Gallego in a special runoff election for the District 19 Senate seat. Flores, a Republican, won 53 percent of the vote to Gallego’s 47 percent.
The result marked a major win for Republicans, as the seat flipped out of the Democratic column for the first time in 139 years. Flores won the seat after Democrat Carlos Uresti resigned after he was found guilty of eleven felony charges. Flores had previously run for the seat in 2016, and was narrowly defeated by Uresti in that election.
Flores will take the seat for the first time during the upcoming legislative session.
Photo by Flores Campaign