Yesterday was a long Election Day – and night – for much of the state. One of the toughest competitions in the region was for which Republican candidate would represent their party in the race for U.S. Congressional District 19 – covering north of Lubbock down to Abilene.
Now, it looks like Republican voters in West Texas will get one more look at that question.
With seven Republican candidates on the ballot, a runoff was highly anticipated. Early in the evening, Lubbock businessman and agriculture lobbyist Tom Sell came out as a leading contender.
“It's certainly gratifying to see the votes rolling in and looks like we'll be in a strong position for a runoff," Sell told KTTZ. "So we'll get to keep on doing this great campaign work and getting around and meeting more people, which is what I've really loved.”
Sell ended Tuesday night with about 40% of the votes.
Much of the evening was an exchange for who would come in second, between Matt Smith and Abraham Enriquez.
KTTZ spoke with Enriquez at a Lubbock polling location before they closed on Election Day.
"As the polls opened up, we visited almost every polling location here in Lubbock," Enriquez explained. "It's excitement, it’s enthusiastic to know there are people coming out, and it's an exciting time for our district. So you know, getting out here, speaking to voters, and sharing our campaign vision has been really great.”
Enriquez and Smith ended the night with almost 19% of the votes each. But with an approximately 200 vote lead, Enriquez gained enough votes to earn his place in the runoff.
Both Sell and Enriquez expressed their respect for the other candidates competing to represent the GOP for District 19.
The winner of the runoff will face Democrat Kyle Rable for the seat in November.
Runoff elections for the primaries will take place May 26.