By Jim Ellis — Friday, March 6, 2026
Texas
Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-San Antonio)
He is now the second House incumbent denied renomination in the 2026 election cycle. The other is Texas Congressman Dan Crenshaw (R-Humble), who lost outright on Tuesday night.
Many Republicans were calling upon Gonzales to concede the runoff but muted their personal criticism. With such a small majority, the Republican leadership could not afford for the Congressman to resign.
Therefore, last night’s decision and announcement is seemingly the GOP leadership’s best-case scenario. Now they can openly support Herrera in order to hold the seat in the general election, while keeping Gonzales in the House to serve the balance of the term.
The entire Gonzales scenario presented a difficult political tightrope for Speaker Mike Johnson and his leadership team to walk, but it appears they have made the best of a difficult and complex circumstance.
• While the 18th CD Democratic primary has yet to yield final results, it is clear that paired Reps. Al Green (D-Houston) and Christian Menefee (D-Houston) will advance to a runoff election. Though former Houston City Councilwoman Amanda Edwards had withdrawn from the race, her name still appeared on Tuesday’s ballot and attracted about eight percent of the vote. Her total is enough to deny a majority to Rep. Menefee who has a slight lead. This means the race will be decided in a new election on May 26.
• The candidates vying to replace retiring Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Lubbock) in Texas’ 19th CD will advance into a runoff election but only one of the participants is currently known. Agribusinessman Tom Sell has secured the first position.
Separated by just 193 votes in second and third place are Gov. Abbott supported Abraham Enriquez and businessman Matt Smith, with only provisional and overseas ballots remaining to count. One of the latter two will advance into the runoff once the final vote tabulations are published.
• In the new open 32nd District, businessman Jace Yarbrough, who enjoys support from both President Trump and Governor Greg Abbott, is knocking on the door of 50%, but may fall just short. Therefore, second place finisher Ryan Binkley, the 2024 long shot presidential candidate who trails Yarbrough by approximately 30 percentage points, can either force the runoff or concede.
• Because of voting issues in Dallas County, some ballots remain uncounted in the region’s 33rd Congressional District Democratic primary, but it is clear that former Congressman Colin Allred, who leads the primary by 11 percentage points, and freshman Rep. Julie Johnson (D-Farmers Branch) will advance to a runoff election.
• In the Houston-anchored open 38th District, businessman Jon Bonck is another contender close to, but not at, the majority support level required to secure nomination. Like in District 32, it will be up to a trailing second-place finisher, likely businesswoman Shelly deZevallos, to decide if she will force a runoff or concedes.
In all Texas races, the runoffs are scheduled for May 26.
Utah
Due to an unfavorable redistricting court decision, one Utah Republican congressional seat has been collapsed in favor of drawing a Democratic seat in Salt Lake City.
With all the courts now backing the initial judicial decision, three-term Rep. Burgess Owens (R-Salt Lake City), who will turn 75 years old before the election, announced yesterday that he will not seek re-election. His decision saves Reps. Celeste Maloy (R-Cedar City) and Mike Kennedy (R-Alpine) from being paired in a single district.
North Carolina
Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam has conceded to Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-Hillsborough/Chapel Hill) in the state’s close 4th Congressional District Democratic primary. It appeared that Rep. Foushee’s small 1,202-vote lead over Allam would hold because only provisional and overseas ballots remain. Clearly, Commissioner Allam and her campaign strategists agreed with such an analysis.
Now that the primary is over, Rep. Foushee becomes a prohibitive favorite in the general election.