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Democrat Taylor Rehmet and Republican Leigh Wambsganss on Tuesday appeared headed to a runoff in the special election for the North Texas Senate seat vacated by Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock.
Hancock resigned from the Tarrant County-based district in June to become the interim head of the state’s budget and tax collecting agency.
Wambsganss, a conservative activist, and Rehmet, a union leader, machinist and Air Force Veteran, easily led a third candidate, former Republican Southlake Mayor John Huffman, through early voting and a portion of Election Day results from Tuesday’s special election. But both appeared to fall short of winning a majority of votes, setting them up for a runoff contest in January.
The runoff winner will serve out the rest of Hancock’s Senate term through the end of 2026.
The district, which covers about half of Fort Worth and much of Tarrant County’s northern suburbs, voted for President Donald Trump by over 17 percentage points last year. If a Republican wins the seat, the state Senate will break down to 19 Republicans and 11 Democrats, with another vacant seat in a dark-red district based in Conroe to be filled in May.
With the GOP vote fractured between Wambsganss and Huffman, Rehmet narrowly led the three-person contest. Still, the combined Republican vote outnumbered the support for Rehmet, suggesting an uphill climb for the Democrat in the runoff.
“The conservative voters of SD 9 have spoken clearly and distinctly,” Wambsganss said in a statement Tuesday night. “They want to send a conservative patriot to Austin to represent them.”
The first round primarily pitted Huffman and Wambsganss against each other, with both touting their experience in conservative politics and commitment to reining in property taxes. Despite their similar positions on the top issues in GOP politics, Huffman occupied the more establishment conservative lane in the race, drawing support from newspapers and moderate elected officials, while Wambsganss won support from figures on the rightmost end of the party.
Wambsganss, a former congressional staffer and longtime conservative activist on the Tarrant County GOP Executive Committee, led Huffman in major endorsements, with Trump, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare, West Texas billionaire and Christian nationalist Tim Dunn’s PAC and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick — the president and power broker of the state Senate — all in her corner.
Patrick predicted Tuesday night that Wambsganss would prevail in the runoff.
“Leigh is an outstanding candidate, a hard worker, and committed Christian,” Patrick posted on social media. “I need her in the Texas Senate!”
Wambsganss serves as the chief communications officer at Patriot Mobile, a Christian conservative wireless provider. The company’s PAC, Patriot Mobile Action, led the charge under Wambsganss’s leadership to elect conservative candidates to several North Texas school boards in 2022, making national waves.
“I have spent my entire adult life as a volunteer public servant, not for a title, but out of conviction,” Wambsganss said in her campaign announcement. “My mission has always been clear: to defend conservative Christian family values, safeguard our freedoms and ensure Texas remains a stronghold for faith, family and freedom.”
Huffman leaned into his governing experience as a former Southlake City Council member and mayor. His top priorities included property taxes, education and funding for law enforcement and first responders, he said in a statement to The Tribune.
“What sets me apart from my opponents is that I’ve done the job. I’ve lowered taxes, balanced budgets and defended law enforcement when others stayed silent,” Huffman said. “Voters aren’t talking about online noise or political sideshows. They’re talking about the cost of living, the pressure of rising taxes, and the kind of Texas their kids will inherit. The attacks and distractions we’ve seen only prove that some candidates don’t have a plan to address those challenges.”
Huffman was endorsed by Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, the Fort Worth Police Officers Association, the editorial boards of the Dallas Morning News and Fort Worth Star-Telegram — and billionaire casino tycoon Miriam Adelson, whose pro-gambling groups have poured over $2.7 million into the race in Huffman’s favor. The funding gave Huffman a financial advantage over Wambsganss and turned the off-year race into an unusually expensive affair.
Wambsganss’ campaign blasted the Adelson contributions to Huffman’s campaign, calling them an “affront to the very concept of democracy.”
“Naked ambition!” Wambsganss campaign advisor Allen Blakemore said in a statement. “John Huffman has revealed himself.”
Wambsganss told CBS News Texas that she opposed legalizing casinos in the state, aligning herself with Patrick, who has shot down all efforts to bring the gambling industry to Texas.
Huffman, on the other hand, said he’d support letting Texas voters decide via a statewide ballot initiative whether to issue a limited number of licenses to large casinos.
The race also grew tense when Wambsganss and Patrick accused Huffman’s campaign of altering an image of her in campaign materials, turning her cross necklace upside down.
“This is demonic!” Wambsganss posted on social media. “This is not a political battle – it’s a spiritual one.”
Patrick added: “I’ve never seen a campaign do anything this despicable and disgraceful.”
Huffman’s campaign denied any involvement in altering the image.
Rehmet, meanwhile, focused his campaign on kitchen-table issues and working-class interests.
“You can’t feed your family or pay your mortgage with partisanship,” he said in a statement. “After thirty years of empty promises and culture wars, voters in this district are ready for someone who shows up for them, not someone who uses them for a sound bite. The ground is shifting because Texans are tired of extremism and hungry for tangible results.”
The race could be a precursor to next year’s March primary, when voters will pick the nominees for a full, four-year term representing Senate District 9, starting in 2027. Wambsganss said Tuesday she planned to run for a full term.
GOP pollster Chris Wilson said last week that the primary electorate favors Wambsganss — and the special election “is not the end of the story.”
“If Democrats and independents dominate turnout, they may shape the runoff,” Wilson wrote on social media. “But if GOP voters show up — Leigh wins, now and in March.”
