A special general election runoff is being held on December 19 for District 30 of the Texas State Senate. Shelley Luther (R) and Drew Springer (R) advanced to the general runoff. The winner will serve until January 2023.
A candidate needed to earn more than 50% of the vote to win in the general election. As no candidate earned more than 50% of the vote, the top two finishers advanced to a general runoff. Luther and Springer each received 32% of the vote. Jacob Minter (D) followed with 21%. No other candidate received over 10% of the vote.
The seat became vacant after the resignation of Pat Fallon (R), who was selected by local Republican Party county and precinct chairs to replace incumbent John Ratcliffe on the general election ballot for Texas’ 4th Congressional District after Ratcliffe withdrew from the race following his confirmation as director of national intelligence. Fallon submitted his letter of resignation on August 22, with an effective date of resignation on January 4.
As of December, 59 state legislative special elections have been scheduled for 2020 in 27 states. Between 2011 and 2019, an average of 77 special elections took place each year.
Additional reading:
- State legislative special elections, 2020
- Texas state legislative special elections, 2020
- Texas State Senate
- Texas State Senate District 30
