SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Republican Pete Flores and Democrat Pete Gallego (gah-YEY’-goh) are advancing to a runoff as the top two vote-getters in a special election for a West Texas state Senate district’s vacant seat.
But no one in the eight-candidate field polled a majority Tuesday in the state Senate District 19 race. That means a runoff will decide between Gallego, a longtime former state representative and one-term congressman, and Flores, a former state game warden Uresti defeated in 2016.
The district seat was vacated by Democratic state Sen. Carlos Uresti, who stepped down in June after getting a 12-year prison term for fraud. His term expires in 2020, and the district that stretches from San Antonio to the Big Bend is heavily Democratic.
Democrat Roland Gutierrez, a current state representative, ran a close third.
