Early voting set to begin for special runoff election for open State Senate seat in Tarrant County
The candidates vying for a rare open state Senate seat in North Texas say they are leaving nothing to chance as early voting is set to begin for District 9 in Tarrant County.
Republican Leigh Wambsganss and Democrat Taylor Rehmet are hoping to succeed former State Sen. Kelly Hancock, who resigned last year and was appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott to become Acting Texas Comptroller.
Residents can go to the polls starting Wednesday until Tuesday, Jan. 27.
Election Day is Saturday, Jan. 31.
It's a challenge to attract voters to runoff elections as it is. But it's more difficult in January. So, Wambsganss and Rehmet are trying to motivate their supporters.
"I think they're energized," Rehmet said. "With a campaign, you can't always measure the energy, but you can feel it. We feel the energy for our campaign and this election. Every single day, we're seeing that Democrats, and some folks from the Republican side, are energized about getting something different out of their Senate district."
"We have an army of volunteers," said Wambsganss. "Republicans are very energized, and I believe that they are finally realizing the threat to Tarrant County to turn blue. All of those groups have been very active, but they're most active now. They are really determined to take this seat. That's why we're working very, very hard."
Both Wambsganss and Rehmet made it to the runoff on Election Day in November, and Republican John Huffman came in third. While this is a Republican majority district, Rehmet, the only Democrat, came close to winning outright.
When asked if he were to win, what it would say about the race and the potential implications statewide, Rehmet said, "This would mean something big, in my opinion. I know that there's so many folks out here that feel like they've been left behind."
Wambsganss said she was focused on defeating Huffman in November and is now focused on defeating Rehmet during this general election.
"We cannot take any race for granted," she said. "We've already walked over 10,000 doors, all volunteer, and we're not stopping until Election Day. We believe as conservatives that conservative policies and conservative legislation is the best thing for all Texans."
They are campaigning on their priorities. Rehmet said his supporters are most concerned about "Our public schools are fully funded, that they want our affordability crisis to be addressed. They want folks like my own parents to retire with dignity, respect, and not be crushed by the rising cost of living, especially property taxes."
"It doesn't matter what city I'm in, the top concern is property taxes," Wambsganss said. "From there, it goes to public safety, and schools, school funding."
Whoever wins on Jan. 31 will serve the rest of this term, which expires at the end of the year. Wambsganss and Rehmet are running again in their parties' primaries on March 3 and will face off against each other again in November.
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