Hundreds of thousands of voters across Texas flocked to the polls on Tuesday to decide the future of the 2020 election cycle, the stakes of which have reached enormous highs amid a period of economic and social unrest stemming largely from COVID-19.
The runoffs were initially scheduled to take place on May 26, but due to the pandemic, they were postponed to July 14.
The two Democratic primary runoff races of statewide and national pertinence were, respectively, those of the Texas Railroad Commission and the U.S. Senate. The former was a highly publicized race between Dallas energy litigation attorney Chrysta Castaneda and former State Rep. Roberto “Beto” Alonzo (District 104). For the Senate primary, United States Air Force veteran Mary Jennings “MJ” Hegar competed against former Texas State Senator Royce West for a bid to run against incumbent Sen. John Cornyn.
Democratic voters in Collin County had their say in these races, in addition to that of Texas House District 67, whose primary contenders included Plano realtor Lorenzo Sanchez and North Texas commercial litigation attorney Tom Adair. It was a decidedly narrow race, as Sanchez beat Adair by only 211 votes.
Given that GOP officials in Texas are enjoying considerable incumbency and are running largely unopposed, Republican voters in Collin County only had to decide the race for McKinney’s 401st District Court, which is presided by District Judge Mark Rusch, who is not running for reelection. While Rusch is a Republican, his tenure has been one of controversy, which has been characterized by the 2016 trial of Enrique Arochi, the convicted kidnapper of 23-year-old Christina Morris. Rusch was recused from proceedings of the case in May 2017, and an unrelated Change.org petition titled “Impeach Mark Rusch (401st District Court of Collin County, Texas)” has 890 signatures as of writing.
Seeking to fill Rusch’s vacancy were George Flint, a practicing attorney of nearly four decades who has been endorsed by Sen. Ted Cruz, and Sarah Fox, a criminal defense lawyer who previously worked as a prosecutor for the Collin County District Attorney’s office. Flint defeated Fox in a landslide victory.
Below are the electoral results:
Electoral Results (Collin County)
Republican Ballots
District Judge, 401st District Court
- George Flint 69.34% (10,550)
- Sarah Fox 30.66% (4,664)
Democratic Ballots
Senator, U.S. Senate
- MJ Hegar 51.58% (19,032)
- Royce West 48.42% (17,863)
Texas Railroad Commissioner
- Chrysta Castaneda 64.13% (22,550)
- Roberto “Beto” Alonzo 35.87% (12,614)
Representative, U.S. House of Representatives – District 3
- Lulu Seikaly 60.71% (20,490)
- Sean McCaffity 39.29% (13,260)
Representative, Texas House of Representatives – District 67
- Lorenzo Sanchez 51.1% (4,898)
- Tom Adair 48.9% (4,687)
Electoral Results (Statewide)
Senator, U.S. Senate
- MJ Hegar 52.1% (498,180)
- Royce West 47.9% (457,555)
Texas Railroad Commissioner
- Chrysta Castaneda 62.0% (575,460)
- Roberto “Beto” Alonzo 38.0% (353,399)
Countywide results are reported by 37 different polling centers, whose statements of votes cast are available here. Statewide results are reported by the Texas Secretary of State. Not all mail-in ballots are included in these results.
