Yarbrough consolidates support, becomes Republican nominee in newly drawn GOP majority congressional district in Texas
A runoff in the Republican primary for the newly drawn 32nd Congressional District in North Texas between Jace Yarbrough and Ryan Binkley has come to an early end.
Last week, Yarbrough announced he won the endorsements of all seven other GOP candidates who ran in the March 3rd primary. A day later, Binkley announced he was withdrawing from the race and backing Yarbrough too. That means Yarbrough will become the party's nominee and avoid a costly runoff for this new GOP majority seat.
For much of the election night, Yarbrough received more than 50% of the vote required to win outright. But overnight as more results came in from that day's voting, he fell under the threshold and landed in the runoff. Yarbrough spoke about the experience with CBS News Texas.
"It's been quite a ride," said Yarbough. "The whole, the whole campaign, honestly, was quite a ride, given how quickly it happened. So, you know, our goal going into election night was to make the runoff. We were one of, if not the last entrant in the race, and we're running against a couple of self-funded folks who had plenty of money. So, to come in over 50% in a nine-way race with a couple of competitors, or as strong as a couple of them were, was really a surprise to us. That happened for early voting."
"And then, you know, as the night went on, obviously, it became a live possibility that we could end it outright, and so, naturally, that's what we were hoping would happen. Ultimately, we fell, you know, I think a fraction of a percentage point short, or maybe a little over one percentage point short of ending it right there."
Yarbrough said he and his team started working the phones. "One of the things that we did very early on was to go to those other seven candidates and ask them for their support and endorsement and we developed some strong relationships with them," he said. "Many good folks in that field, and so was gratified that each of them did decide, ultimately, to endorse us, and grateful to those folks for doing so."
Within 24 hours of Yarbrough announcing the endorsements, Binkley said he would withdraw from the runoff and not appear on the ballot.
Yarbrough said, "I'm grateful to Ryan for doing that again. It frees up a lot of resources that can now be focused on the November election for the people of Texas [District] 32 and others in the state and across the country. Ryan was gracious; he reached out, asked for an in-person meeting, and so we set that up and sat down and chatted about some of the things we have in common. He said 'unequivocally, I'm going to support you in November.' And so it was a good conversation, and I'm grateful now to have everyone on board, pushing hard for a win in November at the ballot box."
Yarbrough will face Democrat Dan Barrios, a Richardson City Councilman in the general election in November.
Because the 32nd Congressional District, which extends from Dallas County into East Texas, is now a GOP majority district, Yarbrough is favored to win.
He told CBS News Texas his message for voters. "The people of Texas 32 clearly are supporters of President Trump," said Yarbrough.
"They're supporters of the America First agenda. What they want is a government who is responsive in the first instance to their needs, and my conviction, as I've said many times on the campaign trail already, is that it is the first duty of government to preserve the American way of life, and to fight for the prosperity of the American people first. So, that's what I intend to do as your congressman from Texas 32. We're looking forward to working hard to earn the votes across the district in November."
Since entering the race, the U.S. has now gone to war with Iran.
When asked if he supports the war, Yarbrough said, "I'm not a member of Congress yet. I don't have all the information that many of the decision makers there do have."
"I can say fundamentally that I stand with the President, I stand with the Republican Party leadership. 2025, what has been done in the first year of Trump's second term, some incredible victories. So, what I want to be is a contributing member to that team to continue advancing these victories that are first and foremost for the American people. I think the President has earned the trust of the American people many times over. So, until I get to Congress, and have more information, I can't necessarily comment on whether this was the right or wrong decision, I can say I do believe he's the man for the hour. I'm grateful that he's the one who won in 2024, and look forward again to being a contributing member of the team that's given the American people so many wins just in the first 14 months of his second administration."
Last week, Joe Kent, head of the National Counterterrorism Center, resigned in a letter he made public in which he blamed Israel for leading the U.S. into the war against Iran. He also said Iran did not pose an imminent threat against the U.S.
President Trump strongly disagreed.
Yarbrough criticized Kent for making his resignation so public. "I don't know, Joe, and again, I don't have the information that's available to many people that are within the administration," he said.
"I can say that, as a veteran myself, I understand what it means to voice disagreement behind closed doors. There's a way to do that. I do think that the Article II branch exists in order to execute the will and decisions of the president. So, insofar as a person cannot do that or is not willing to do that, I think it's appropriate for that person to leave. However, I do think there's a certain deference that needs to be had when making that exit, and so, again, our government exists, and we have the Article II branch exists in order to execute the will of the president. So once the decision's made, I think it's incumbent upon every member of the administration, certainly publicly, to get behind those decisions."