Updated 1 p.m. March 6
One Texas House of Representative race in the Sugar Land and Missouri City area is heading to the runoffs, according to unofficial final voting results from Fort Bend County.
The details
With all Fort Bend County voting centers reporting, two Republican candidates in House District 76 will compete in the May 28 runoff. Summara Kanwal and Lea C.S. Simmons both garnered a little over 35% of votes, while Dayo David has almost 29% of votes.
The winner of the Republican runoff will face Democratic incumbent Suleman Lalani in the Nov. 5 election. Lalani beat out challenger Vanesia Johnson with 63.44% of votes.
“The results show my coalition of support has grown in the last two years," Lalani said in an emailed statement March 6. "Campaigns are won between elections with service to your constituents. Working across the aisle to protect public schools and expand Medicaid for new Texas mothers is what HD 76 voters want. They also expect me to stand up to the bigotry and culture wars that are part of Texas politics, and I do that proudly and fiercely.”
In a phone interview March 6, Simmons said she's excited to head to the runoff election against Kanwal, who she said she became friends with through the election process. Simmons is a former Republican precinct chair who has lived in Fort Bend County all her life, she said.
"People ask me all the time, 'How did you do this? What possessed you to want to do this?' And I said, 'Because I love my community that much, and I care about all these things,'" she said. "That's the beauty of the race between [Kanwal] and I: We became friends; we bonded over the same issues. But I think because it's two minority women, it's gonna be tough making a decision in the runoff."
Community Impact reached out to Kanwal for comment and will update the story when the information is received.
The runoff will take place May 28, with early voting being May 20-24, according to the Texas Secretary of State office's website.
What else
Meanwhile, in the Democratic race for House District 27, incumbent Ronald Reynolds beat challenger Rodrigo Carreon with 85.52% of the votes. Community Impact reached out to Reynolds for comment and will update the story when the information is received.
In the Republican House District 28 race, incumbent Gary Gates beat Dan Mathews with 61.06% of the votes. In the Nov. 5 election, Gates will face off against Democratic candidate Marty Rocha, who won against Nelvin J. Adriatico with 57.03% of votes.
In a phone interview March 6, Gates said he believes his race was competitive due to his vote to move forward with Attorney General Ken Paxton's 10-day impeachment trail in September; following Paxton's acquittal in the trial, Gates said he apologized to Paxton and received his endorsement.
"We'll start focusing on the November election, and I'm going to be working hard on my election and continuing to make sure that [former] President [Donald] Trump prevails, and I'm going to work hard to make sure I expand our lead in the November election," he said.
All votes are unofficial until canvassed.
Updated 11 p.m. March 5
Unofficial voting results show Sugar Land- and Missouri City-area Texas House of Representative candidates have maintained their leads from early voting.
Fort Bend County Election Administrator John Oldham said elections staff are waiting on 26 of 73 voting centers to report their ballots, as of about 10:30 p.m. March 5. Community Impact will update this story in the morning with election results.
The details
In the Democratic race for House District 27, candidate Rodrigo Carreon faced off against incumbent Ronald Reynolds.
- Results show Reynolds maintains his lead against Carreon with 85.43% of votes.
- Results show incumbent Gary Gates maintains his lead with 60.83% of votes against challenger Dan Mathews in the Republican primary.
- Results show Marty Rocha maintains the lead with 56.95% of votes against Nelvin J. Adriatico in the Democratic primary.
- Results shows two leads in the Republican primaries, with Summara Kanwal and Lea C.S. Simmons garnering a little over 35% of votes, while Dayo David has almost 29% of votes. The top two candidates in the primary will head to a runoff.
- Results shows Democratic incumbent Suleman Lalani maintains a strong lead against challenger Vanesia Johnson. Lalani has 63.49% of votes against Johnson's 36.51%.
Posted 7:50 p.m. March 5
Early voting results were released for various Texas House of Representatives races in the March primaries.
The unofficial results show the Fort Bend County-area candidates who are leading the Republican and Democratic primaries. The winner of the respective primaries will face off in the Nov. 5 election.
The details
In the Democratic race for House District 27, candidate Rodrigo Carreon faced off against incumbent Ronald Reynolds.
Early voting results show:
- Carreon with 1,222 votes, or 13.97% of votes
- Reynolds with 7,527 votes, or 86.03% of votes
In the Republican race, early voting results show:
- Incumbent Gary Gates with 6,420 votes, or 60.5% of votes
- Daniel Mathews with 4,192 votes, or 39.5% of votes
- Nelvin J. Adriatico with 1,733 votes, or 44.65% of votes
- Marty Rocha with 2,148 votes, or 55.35% of votes
In the Republican race, early voting results show:
- Dayo David with 1,666 votes, or 33.36% of votes
- Summara Kanwal with 1,918 votes, or 38.41% of votes
- Lea Simmons with 1,410 votes, or 28.23% of votes
- Vanesia Johnson with 2,349 votes, or 32.96% of votes
- Incumbent Suleman Lalani with 4,778 votes, or 67.04% of votes
All results are unofficial until canvassed.
Visit communityimpact.com/voter-guide/election-results to see results from all local elections in your community.
