Update at 10:30 p.m.
Fort Bend Sheriff Troy Nehls maintained a more than 5-point margin as vote counts continued to add up Nov. 3.
With all Brazoria County votes counted and partial results posted from Harris and Fort Bend counties, Nehls had 155,809 votes to 138,694 for Kulkarni, giving him 50.8% to 45.2%.
Results are updated as of 10:30 p.m. and are unofficial until they are canvassed and certified by the county clerk. Under Texas election law, the clerk accepts and counts mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day and received by Nov. 4, if they were sent from inside the U.S., or Nov. 9 if they were sent from outside the U.S.
Update at 9 p.m.
With early results from Harris, Fort Bend and Brazoria counties posted, Republican Troy Nehls had a nearly five-point advantage over Democratic challenger Sri Preston Kulkarni in the race for the U.S. House of Representatives District 22 seat.
Nehls had 86,280 votes, or 50.2%, to Kulkarni's 78,487, or 45.6%.
Libertarian candidate Joseph LeBlanc Jr. had 7,236 votes, or about 4%.
Nehls, the Fort Bend County sheriff, is seeking to take up the seat formerly held by U.S. Rep. Pete Olson, also a Republican, who has held the district since 2009.
In his first bid for the office in 2018, Kulkarni lost to Olson by 5 points and fewer than 15,000 votes.
