A Democrat might be poised to flip a longtime red Texas Senate district in yet another potential victory for the party in Tuesday’s election.
Union leader and Air Force veteran Taylor Rehmet came in first in the special election for Texas Senate District 9, a seat vacated by Texas Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock. Hancock stepped away from representing the district, which includes part of Fort Worth, to lead the state’s budget and tax collecting agency.
Rehmet took home 47.6% of the vote compared to top GOP rival Leigh Wambsganss, a conservative activist who pulled in 36%.
However, since neither Rehmet nor Wambsganss was able to secure a majority, the race now goes into a runoff, which will be decided in January. The winner will serve the remainder of Hancock’s term, which expires in January 2027.
Rehmet’s victory caught some by surprise in a district that went to Trump in 2024 by a 17% margin, the Texas Tribune reports.
Rehmet was also drastically outspent by his GOP rivals, raising a paltry $120,000 compared to Wambsganss’ $1.6 million, according to KERA News.
Wambsganss also drew endorsements from influential right-wing figures, including President Donald Trump, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. Ahead of Tuesday’s election, Patrick predicted Wambsganss would be victorious in a glowing social media post.
“Leigh is an outstanding candidate, a hard worker, and committed Christian,” Patrick posted on social media. “I need her in the Texas Senate!”
Despite the war chest and friends in high places, things didn’t exactly go according to plan for Wambsganss. Nonetheless, Patrick bizarrely congratulated her for the “victory” in a Tuesday night post.
“Congratulations to Leigh Wambsganss for her huge victory in the SD 9 special election tonight!” Patrick wrote about the candidate who’s headed to a runoff with a guy she outspent 13 times over.
Rehmet, who serves as president of the Texas State Council of Machinists, seemingly benefited from the GOP vote fracturing between two candidates, the other being former Southlake mayor John Huffman, whom Patrick derided in an online post as a “moderate Republican.” Huffman also drastically outraised Rehmet with a war chest of $1.3 million.
The campaigns of both Wambsganss and Huffman were largely bankrolled by billionaires, according to the Fort Worth Report, while Rehmet relied on small individual donations.
When Hancock vacated the position in July, it created a mad dash of a five-month race that didn’t require a primary and resulted in fractured GOP support in the general election.
For his part, Rehmet is running on working-class issues including affordable housing, public schools and strengthening Texas unions.
Wambsganss, who describes herself as “ULTRA MAGA” in her X bio, ran on a platform prioritizing border security, keeping transgender athletes out of women’s sports, lowering taxes and supporting law enforcement.
The race is emblematic of Fort Worth’s distinction as being Texas’ last purple holdout city to flip to blue — assuming Republicans lose the Texas Senate seat they’ve held since 1991.
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