After a tight race throughout much of the evening Tuesday, Lupe Valdez pulled ahead late to comfortably defeat Andrew White in the Democratic runoff for governor, according to unofficial returns.
With nearly 88 percent of precincts reporting, Valdez had a roughly 5 percent lead over White after being virtually tied with the Houston businessman earlier in the evening. She rode a strong showing in Dallas County, where she had served as sheriff, and neighboring Tarrant County.
She also won populous border counties like Webb, Hidalgo and El Paso by wide margins.
White, the son of late Gov. Mark White, saw a big boost from his home county of Harris, but it wasn’t enough to overtake Valdez.
Valdez, the first openly lesbian and first Latina candidate to win a major party gubernatorial nomination in Texas, will challenge Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in November. She finished ahead of White in the March primary, getting 43 percent of the vote to White’s 27 percent, as both emerged from a crowded field that included seven little-known candidates.
The runoff period was highlighted by White’s weeks-long push for a debate with Valdez, which she ultimately agreed to earlier this month after a tumultuous stretch that saw her lose an endorsement to White from a group of young Hispanic activists. At the debate, they clashed over long-simmering issues in the race: Valdez’s cooperation with federal immigration authorities as sheriff, White’s personal opposition to abortion and whether Democrats should nominate a self-styled “moderate” in White.
Valdez will face a uphill battle against Abbott, who boasts high approval ratings and a $41 million war chest. She also will be fighting recent Texas history: The state’s voters have not elected a Democrat to statewide office in more than two decades.
Source: Texas Tribune Blue Government News
