Incumbents cruise to victory in McLennan County primaries

Texas held its Super Tuesday primary election on March 5. Assoah Ndomo | Photographer

By Luke Lattanzi | Staff Writer

Texas was one of 15 states to hold its Super Tuesday primary election for local, state and federal offices on March 5 — and it saw incumbents cruise to victory.

President

Both former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden won the Republican and Democratic presidential primaries in McLennan County, with Trump earning more than 74% of the Republican vote and Biden garnering over 88% of the Democratic vote.

Nikki Haley, who suspended her presidential campaign on March 6, won just over 18% of the Republican vote, garnering the most votes besides Trump.

U.S. Senate

Republican incumbent Ted Cruz won just over 87% of the McLennan County primary vote, defeating candidates Holland “Redd” Gibson and R.E. Lopez. Democratic candidate Colin Allred garnered just over 66% of the primary vote, defeating eight other Democratic candidates.

U.S. House of Representatives

Republican incumbent Pete Sessions also soundly defeated Joseph T. Langone in the Republican primary for the 17th congressional district, garnering over 85% of the vote. Democratic candidate Mark Lorenzen went unopposed.

Texas House of Representatives

Districts 13 and 56 of the Texas House of Representatives are up for reelection.

In District 13, Republican incumbent Angelia Orr and Democratic candidate Albert Hunter both went unopposed in their primaries.

In District 56, Pat Curry defeated Devvie Duke with over 58% of the vote in the Republican primary, and Erin Shank went unopposed in the Democratic primary. Charles “Doc” Anderson, the current Republican representative, announced his retirement last year. He was first elected to the Texas House in 2004.

Texas Railroad Commission

Incumbent commissioner Christi Craddick defeated James Matlock and three other Republican primary candidates with 51% of the vote. Matlock won just over 30% of the vote.

McLennan County Sheriff

Republican incumbent Parnell McNamara won in a relatively close primary race against Jeff Aguire, with 53.72% of the vote to Aguire’s 46.28%.

Propositions

McLennan County Republicans also voted on 13 yes-or-no statewide propositions. While these propositions do not actually create laws, they are a way for the Republican Party to gauge the political views of voters.

Notable propositions include Proposition 1, which asked if Texas should eliminate all property taxes “without increasing Texans’ overall tax burden” and was approved with over 78% of the vote, and Proposition 2, which asked whether or not Texas should create a Border Protection Unit at the southern border and was approved with 91.46% of the vote.

A full list of results can be found on the McLennan County website.

Luke Lattanzi is a senior political science major with a minor in news-editorial originally from Monroe Township, New Jersey, now based in Houston. In his last semester at the Lariat, he is excited to learn more about what it takes to report for a daily news publication. Luke also serves as assistant editor for conservative digital magazine American Pigeon. He hopes to work for a publication as a reporter after graduation.