Trump-backed House candidate leads by only 7 votes in Texas’ key second round

A House candidate in Texas backed by President TrumpDonald John TrumpIvanka Trump launches Goya Foods products on Twitter Sessions defends the challenge: “I leave the elected office with my integrity intact” Former White House doctor Ronny Jackson wins the second round of Texas MORE he’s leading an opponent backed by the senator. Ted CruzRafael (Ted) Edward Cruz MJ Hegar wins the Democratic battle to challenge John Cornyn The Hill Campaign Report: Key races take shape in Alabama, Texas, Maine 5 key races to see Tuesday MORE (R-Texas) by just seven votes in a second round that will determine the Republican candidate in the race to replace the retiring representative. Will HurdWilliam Ballard Hurd Overnight Defense: Panel Passes Bill 4.6B Addressing Border Wall Funds, Confederate Name Changes | Fire on Navy ship skyrockets in The Hill Campaign Report: Key careers take shape in Alabama, Texas, Maine House panel passes defense bill with limits on border wall , Confederate base layout MORE (R)

As of Wednesday morning, Tony Gonzales, backed by Trump, had received 12,346 votes, while Raúl Reyes, backed by Cruz, had received 12,339, with 100 percent of the precincts reporting, according to The Associated Press.

There are still votes to count, such as provisional ballots or mail-in ballots postmarked on Tuesday and received on Wednesday. Election officials will carry out a vote count over the next week before the results are finalized. Under Texas election law, a candidate may request a recount if he or she creeps in for less than 10 percent of the winner’s vote share.

Still, the very close nature of the runoff in Texas District 23 underscores a gap between Republicans in a key race that Democrats see as one of their best opportunities for recovery from the 2020 election cycle. The Cook Political Report, a Nonpartisan electoral hurdle, currently calls it “Lean Democratic”.

Gonzales entered the second round with the support of Hurd, along with the leaders of the House of Representatives and Trump. But in a surprising move, Cruz supported Reyes, arguing that he was the more reliably conservative candidate of the two.

Dueling endorsements pit two of the country’s most prominent Republicans against each other in a district that stretches across a vast swath of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Trump taped a robocall for Gonzales that went out to voters and participated in a conference call with him on Monday in an effort to push him ahead of the second round.

Meanwhile, Cruz, who had urged Trump to stay away from the second round, pulled out a six-figure ad purchase through his leadership PAC backing Reyes. In that announcement, Cruz urges voters to choose a candidate “who does not give up our border, our sovereignty, our way of life.”

Both Cruz and Trump have enormous dominance among Republicans in Texas. The president led the state in the 2016 presidential election with 52 percent of the vote, while Cruz won reelection in 2018 with 51 percent of the vote.

Democrats have already selected their nominee, Gina Ortiz Jones, in the initial March primaries in Texas. Jones, a repeat candidate, was halfway to defeating Hurd in the 2018 midterm elections, and appears to be on the verge of winning the district this year.

Tuesday’s second round yielded other wins for Trump. In Texas’ 13th district, Ronny Jackson, the former White House doctor for Trump and former President Obama, defeated lobbyist Josh Winegarner for the Republican nomination. Jackson had been endorsed by the President.

And in Alabama, former Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville beat Jeff SessionsJefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsSessions defends the challenge: “I am leaving the elected office with my integrity intact” Trump takes the victory lap after Tuberville defeats Sessions Jeff Sessions loses the offer to return in the second round of Alabama MORE, who was running to regain his old Senate seat. Sessions left the chamber in 2017 to become Trump’s first attorney general, but resigned in 2018 after his relationship with the president soured over his recusal in the investigation into Russia’s electoral interference.

Trump repeatedly attacked Sessions throughout the race and strongly supported Tuberville.