A Democrat and a Republican were leading in early vote totals Tuesday night in a nationally targeted special election for a historically Republican Texas House seat.

Democrat Eliz Markowitz — the only Democrat in the race — was in first place with 38% of the vote, while Republican Gary Gates was in second with 30%, according to unofficial returns. The race will head to a runoff if no candidate gets over 50%.

Gates, a self-funding perennial candidate and businessman, was one of three serious GOP candidates out of six total. The two other viable Republicans in the race, Tricia Krenek and Anna Allred, were getting 19% and 9%, respectively.

The race for House District 28 — where former state Rep. John Zerwas, R-Richmond, stepped down at the end of September — was one of three contests Tuesday to fill state House seats. The two others happened in solidly Democratic districts where runoffs were also looking likely, based on the early vote.

In House District 100, where former Rep. Eric Johnson, D-Dallas, vacated his seat earlier this year after becoming Dallas mayor, Democrat Lorraine Birabil had a wide lead at 40%, with three Democratic rivals clustered in the high teens. A fifth and final candidate, Democrat Paul Stafford, was getting 6% despite withdrawing from the special election after filing for it in September.

And in House District 148, where Rep. Jessica Farrar, D-Houston, also resigned at the end of September, the top two finishers in the early vote were Democrat Anna Eastman with 18% and Republican Luis La Rotta with 17%. Only two other candidates, Democrat Adrian Garcia and Republican Ryan McConnico, were in double digits in the 15-way race.

In the run-up to Tuesday, though, the battle for Zerwas’ seat had attracted the most attention. Democrats are aiming to flip the seat as they head into 2020 with the hopes of capturing the Texas House, where they are effectively nine seats away from the majority.

Markowitz, a Katy educator who unsuccessfully ran last year for State Board of Education, drew hundreds of thousands of dollars in support from state and national Democrats. A number of high-profile surrogates visited the district to campaign for her, including Beto O’Rourke when he was running for president.

While there were a half-dozen Republicans running, only three emerged as viable contenders: Gates; Krenek, a former member of the Fulshear City Council; and Allred, an anesthesiologist from Katy. Gates, who made his fortune in real estate, almost exclusively self-funded his campaign, loaning himself over $700,000.

Source: Texas Tribune Blue Left News