Susan Wright leads in tight race for open U.S. House seat in Texas
Republican Susan Wright, the wife of late U.S. Rep. Ron Wright, has the lead in the race for Congressional District 6, with the special election looking poised to head into a runoff.
As of 10:15 p.m. with 96% of polling places reporting, Wright had 19.21% of the votes, according unofficial numbers from the Texas Secretary of State. Next behind her were Republican State Rep. Jake Ellzey with 13.9% and Democrat Jana Lynne Sanchez with 13.4%.
Twenty-three candidates are running to for the North Texas district, previously held by late U.S. Rep. Ron Wright, who died in February after battles with lung cancer and COVID-19. The district includes most of Arlington and Mansfield and all of Ellis and Navarro counties.
As votes continued to be tallied, Wright appeared to have secured a place in a runoff, as Ellzey and Sanchez contended for the number two spot. Ellzey was confident about his chances in a interview with the Star-Telegram late Saturday.
“I’m excited about where this campaign is and where it’s coming from and where it’s headed,” he said. “I think we’re going to make the runoff.”
The race has garnered national attention as a test of former President Donald Trump’s sway in contested districts. The district has historically been held by a Republican, though candidates in the race on both sides of the aisle believe it’s competitive.
There are 11 Republicans, 10 Democrats, an independent and a Libertarian running. The race goes into a runoff if a single candidate does not earn more than 50% of the votes. Political observers are watching to see who makes it into the runoff and what political parties they represent.
Republican candidates include Susan Wright, who has worked for Texas lawmakers, Ellzey, who ran for the seat in 2018, Brian Harrison, who served as chief of staff of the Health and Human Services department under Trump, and former professional wrestler Dan Rodimer. Democrats includes Sanchez, who ran for the seat in 2018 and lost to Wright by less than 8 percentage points, Lydia Bean, the 2020 Democratic candidate Texas House District 93, and Shawn Lassiter, a nonprofit leader and former teacher.
Candidates and their supporters made final appeals to voters in recent days. Trump weighed in on the race as early voting was underway and reached out to voters in a Thursday tele-town hall for Wright hosted by national conservative organization Club for Growth.
“Susan is a committed conservative who will fight for our America first agenda to make America great again,” Trump said on the call.
Club for Growth has focused much of its attention on supporting Wright while questioning Ellzey’s conservative credentials. Wright and Ellzey have been considered among the front-runners in the Republican pool. Ellzey, traveling the district with former Texas Gov. Rick Perry who served in Trump’s administration as Secretary of Energy, defended his record.
“I don’t deal in that kind of stuff and I don’t respond to it, so they can do that all they want to but I know that the people I live with here in Waxahachie, TX... don’t respond well to that kind of media, that kind of display, especially from our own party,” he said. “Anybody who knows me knows that I am a conservative, and I’m proud to be so.”
Sanchez took Facebook Saturday, where she encouraged those in the district vote and help flip it blue.
“Pick your congress person — vote for me, Jana Lynne Sanchez — pick your school board members, your city council members and your mayors,” she said in a Facebook live video.
