Update: 12:50 a.m.

With all precincts reporting, Dale unofficially beat Matthews the Republican primary race for Texas House District 136 by 66 percent of the vote. Once the votes are canvassed, Dale will likely be named the primary winner.

Update: 9:45 p.m.

With three whole precincts and 45 partial precincts reporting to the Williamson County Elections Office, Dale remains in the lead with 68 percent of the votes.

Dale told supporters he felt confident in his presumed win during an election watch party at Belini's Texas Grill in Cedar Park.

"We've got another campaign ahead of us, and I'm looking forward to that," he said. "I like my chanches [in the general election], but I don't want to take anything for granted. We just have to work as hard as we did this campaign."

Though Dale has represented only part of district 136 while serving as a Cedar Park city councilman, he said he has connections to almost every part of the district.

"I'm pretty well-known for participating in a lot of public meetings and public events. It's just what I do, and I'm going to continue to do it," he said. "I won't be someone who's hard to get in touch with."

Paul Matthews was not available for comment.

8:08 p.m.

Preliminary early voting results show Tony Dale leads Paul Matthews in the Republican primary race for the Texas House of Representatives District 136 seat.

Early voting tallies total 2,572 votes for Dale and 1,172 votes for Matthews, giving Dale 68.7 percent of the vote.

Dale is a Cedar Park city councilman and former secretary and vice chairman of the Cedar Park planning and zoning commission. Dale said his goals as state representative would include education reform, getting more resources to secure Texas border, fighting unfunded federal mandates and improved infrastructure.

Matthews is a certified public accountant and the finance manager for the Travis County Sheriff's Office. Matthews said his priority as a state representative would be to use limited funding toward education, crime prevention and property rights.

The primary winner will face two challengers in the November election, including Democrat Matt Stillwell and Libertarian Matt Whittington.

Additional reporting by Nick Mace.