Peter P. Flores and Pete Gallego to Go to Run-Off Election for Texas Senate District 19 Special Emergency Election

By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2018

The Texas Secretary of State Elections Division has announced the Unofficial Final Results of the Texas Senate District 19 Special Emergency Election held on Tuesday, July 31, 2018, with Republican Peter P. (Pete) Flores garnering the most votes with 8,965 (34.37%), followed closely by Democratic former Congressman and State Representative Pete Gallego with 7,541 votes, then Democratic State Representative Roland Gutierrez with 6,351 votes, followed by Republican Carlos Antonio Raymond received 912 votes, Democratic State Representative Thomas Uresti obtained 798 votes, Democrat Charlie Urbina Jones had 783 votes, Republican Jesse (Jay) Alaniz got 456 votes, and Libertarian Tony Valdivia tallied 271 votes.

Since neither candidate obtained a majority of the votes, Republican Peter P. (Pete) Flores will face former Congressman and State Representative Pete Gallego in a Run-Off Election to be held in September 2018 to determine who will become the State Senator for District 19, which includes Maverick County.

Republican Peter P. (Pete) Flores surprised many by receiving the most votes in the July 31, 2018 Special Emergency Election as many thought that Democratic candidates Pete Gallego and Roland Gutierrez would probably end in the Run-Off Election.  However, Republicans endorsed Peter P. (Pete) Flores over the other two Republicans in an attempt to try to flip the Senate District 19 seat from Democratic to Republican while Democrats battled themselves in splitting the Democratic Party voting strength.

Democratic candidate Pete Gallego will carry name identification advantage into the Run-Off Election against Peter P. (Pete) Flores as he previously was the State Representative and later the U.S. House of Representative for most of the same geographic territory as Senate District 19.  

Maverick Countians will have a second opportunity to cast their ballots in the Run-Off Election of this key State Senate District. Hopefully, a larger number of Maverick Countians will come out and vote in the Run-Off Election than the 1,420 voters that cast ballots in the July 31, 2018 Special Emergency Election.