Thank you, Texas REALTORS®. Your dedication to electing pro-real estate candidates showed in the March 6 primary elections: 80% of REALTOR®-supported candidates—from both political parties—won their contested primaries.

Several primary races will be determined in runoff elections on May 22, with early voting May 14-18. Sign up for TAR’s Legislative Liaison newsletter to ensure you receive the latest election updates.

Here’s a rundown of primary election highlights: 

By the numbers

  • NAR, TAR, RPAC, and TREPAC took positions in 73 state and federal races in Texas.
  • Of those 73 races, 63 races (86%) won outright or are heading to a runoff.

Congress
At the federal level, NAR supported candidates in 18 Texas Congressional races through the REALTOR® Political Action Committee (RPAC), with supported candidates winning in 100% of these races:

  • CD 1 – Louie Gohmert-R
  • CD 3 – Van Taylor-R
  • CD 4 – John Ratcliffe-R
  • CD 7 – John Culberson-R
  • CD 10 – Michael McCaul-R
  • CD 11 – Mike Conaway-R
  • CD 14 – Randy Weber-R
  • CD 16 – Veronica Escobar-D
  • CD 18 – Shelia Jackson Lee-D
  • CD 22 – Pete Olson-R
  • CD 23 – Will Hurd-R
  • CD 24 – Kenny Marchant-R
  • CD 26 – Michael Burgess-R
  • CD 29 – Sylvia Garcia-D
  • CD 30 – Eddie Bernice Johnson-D
  • CD 31 – John Carter-R
  • CD 32 – Pete Sessions-R
  • CD 33 – Marc Veasey-D

Statewide races
TREPAC supported incumbents Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick for their continued support of the real estate industry. Both won their Republican primaries by significant margins.

Texas House and Senate
Overall, REALTOR®-supported candidates had strong results in state House and Senate races. TREPAC backed candidates in 53 state legislative races, finishing with 39 wins, 10 losses, and four supported candidates now heading to runoffs.

Of special note, Texas REALTOR® Cody Harris, R-Palestine, is heading to a runoff in HD 8.

Golden opportunities
Opportunity races are a collaborative effort for select campaigns between the Texas REALTORS® and local associations to encourage local Texas REALTORS® to vote for supported candidates on Election Day.

During the primaries, TAR engaged in 11 opportunity races, winning outright in six races (54.5%), with four losses and one race going to the May 22 runoffs:

State-level opportunity race wins:

  • SD 17 – Sen. Joan Huffman
  • SD 31 – Sen. Kel Seliger
  • HD 98 – Rep. Giovanni Capriglione
  • HD 99 – Rep. Charlie Geren
  • HB 102 – Rep. Linda Koop
  • HD 134 – Rep. Sarah Davis

Opportunity race runoffs:

  • HD 8 – Cody Harris (REALTOR®)

Opportunity race losses:

  • SD 2 – Sen. Cindy Burkett (REALTOR®)
  • HD 4 – Sen. Ashley McKee (REALTOR® affiliate)
  • HD 73 – Dave Campbell
  • HD 114 – Rep. Jason Villalba

NAR also engaged in an opportunity race for REALTOR® Champion Marc Veasey in CD 33, winning the primary race with 70% of the vote.