What Went Down At Biden’s State Of The Union And Texas’s Primary Election

A runoff in the Democratic primary for Texas’s 28th District remains a distinct possibility. With 80 percent of the vote in, per the New York Times, Rep. Henry Cuellar now trails challenger Jessica Cisneros by 2.6 points, 46.4 percent to 49.0 percent. But third wheel Tannya Benavides has 4.6 percent, so it’s possible neither Cisneros nor Cuellar will clear the majority hurdle in the end. Much of the outstanding vote appears to be from areas where Cuellar has run well, so he may be more likely to gain ground at this point to force a runoff in May.

And as sometimes happens, there are complications with getting a read on what a 59 percent share of the primary vote really means for Rep. Pat Fallon. This is actually Fallon’s first time running in a congressional primary, as he first won in the 2020 general election after becoming the GOP nominee at a party committee conference in August 2020, not in the primary that March. That’s because the already-renominated Rep. John Ratcliffe had resigned to become Director of National Intelligence, so the party needed to replace Ratcliffe on the ballot. So between having never had to go before the GOP primary electorate and having only previously represented slightly more than half of the constituents in the new 4th District, Fallon winning almost 60 percent in his primary isn’t too shabby!

While House incumbents who voted to certify the election results have been having a good night, so have the incumbents who voted not to certify the election results. All 14 seeking reelection have either won or are on track to win with over 50 percent of the vote, thus avoiding a runoff — the candidate with the smallest share is Rep. Pat Fallon in the 4th District, with 59 percent of the vote.