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Houston area voters decided plenty of primary runoff elections on Tuesday night, and outside of one close race and some election machine issues in Fort Bend County, not much drama was produced.
Among the biggest races locally were for Congressional seats, with the newly redrawn District 9 now up for grabs, which now potentially favors the GOP. After getting an endorsement from President Trump, former Harris County Judge candidate Alex Mealer soundly defeated State Rep. Briscoe Cain in their GOP primary runoff. She told The Texan, "I see this very much as step one...I'm excited for moving to the next phase, where we win seats in November, and have a chance to help President Trump pass the America First agenda." She will face Letitia Gutierrez in the November election.
That TX-9 district seat has been held since 2005 by Congressman Al Green, who decided after redistricting to run for Congressional District 18, formerly held by Sylvsester Turner and Shelia Jackson-Lee. But despite his best efforts, Green will see himself out of Congress, as he was defeated by former Harris County Attorney Christian Meneffee in the Democrat primary runoff. Menefee will now face Ronald Whitfield for the seat in November.
Another Trump-endorsed candidate also had a big victory Tuesday night in Congressional District 38. Jon Bonck defeated Ashley deZevallos in their GOP primary runoff for the district seat held by the departing Wesley Hunt. Bonck will now face off with Melissa McDonough in the midterms.
In Harris County specifically, voters will be deciding on a new County Judge come November, and at least one side of that ticket is set. Former Harris County Treasurer Orlando Sanchez defeated Air Force veteran Warren Howell in the GOP primary runoff for Harris County Judge, advancing to the November election. The Democrat side is the one race with some drama, however. City councilwoman Letitia Plummer has defeated former Houston Mayor Annise Parker, who conceded early Wednesday morning.
The Harris County Republican Party will also see their Chair stay in their seat. Cindy Siegel defeated Don Hooper to retain her title as Chair of the Harris County GOP.