Editor’s note: See the end of this story for detailed results on state and federal races pertaining to McLennan County. See our complete roundup of local results and find statewide results from our partners at The Texas Tribune.
McLennan County’s primary elections on Tuesday favored Republican incumbents and well-funded candidates, while the biggest surge in Democratic turnout since 2008 left local party leaders bullish on their November chances.
While the winners plot their course to the general election, two local Democratic races are headed to runoffs May 26, with no majority winner Tuesday.
The U.S. House District 17 contest is set for a rematch between Casey Shepard and Milah Flores. McLennan County Precinct 5 Justice of the Peace race will feature incumbent LucyAnn Sanchez-Miramontez and Leslie Edwards.
Republicans will have two runoffs of their own on May 26. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn is locked in a drama-rich brawl with former Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, which will determine who challenges Democratic Texas Rep. James Talarico in November. Meanwhile, Paxton’s empty Attorney General seat has wrought a primary run-off race for his replacement featuring Mayes Middleton and Chip Roy.
But other than the sheer increase in local Democratic turnout, the state and local races concerning Waco area residents produced few surprises.
State Rep. David Cook, R-Mansfield, easily won the GOP nomination for Senate District 22, which represents McLennan County, defeating Jon Gimble of Waco and Rena Schroeder of Lott.
After winning more than 67% of the GOP vote, he will face Democrat Amy Martinez-Salas of Arlington in the Nov. 3 general election to replace State Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, who is stepping down after 16 years.
Cook came into the race with an overwhelming edge in campaign donations and big-ticket endorsements, including President Trump. He told the Bridge on a Wednesday morning call that those factors made a difference on Election Day. But he also noted his willingness to listen to constituents’ concerns about data centers, which led him to call for greater state regulation on that industry.
“Ground game is always a big part of it,” Cook said. “That’s why you do what you do — going out and meeting and engaging with voters — (because) you find out what’s important to them.”
He said there were no plans for a serious switch up in campaign strategy heading into the November general election for the district, which stretches out to Hood County and part of Fort Worth.
Districtwide voter engagement and sustained messaging on data centers and property tax relief will continue to be dominant features of his campaign, Cook said.
Curry to face Thornton
District 56 State Rep. Pat Curry, R-Waco, took 69% of votes cast and easily fended off a challenge from McLennan County party activist Ralph Patterson. The winner will head to the Nov. 3 general election to square off with Ashley Bean Thornton, who won the Democratic nomination over attorney Janessa Givens.
The morning after votes were tallied, Curry told the Bridge he was not surprised by the results.
“I was not worried, because I know my voters,” Curry said, describing a strategy big on engagement and staying tuned into voter concerns.
Curry was among the first state officials in the region to seize on the topic of data centers and has made himself a regular attendee at strategy meetings hosted by data center opponents in Ross. He said his strategy in the general election would center on Waco-area issues shared by both Republicans and Democrats. “They all have the same issues with property taxes, they have the same concerns about water, … (and) mental health,” Curry said.
District 13 State Rep. Angelia Orr, R-Hill County, also survived a primary challenge from Kat Wall, who had criticized her support of a data center near Lake Whitney.
Orr made out with 56% of the vote in that contest and will once again face Bosque County Democrat Albert Hunter in November as she did in 2024.
Dems eye Precinct 2 comeback
Closely watched McLennan County races included the Democratic primary for Commissioner Precinct 2, a precinct that was redrawn in October to favor Republicans.
Nonprofit leader and Waco school trustee Jeremy Davis defeated Travis Gibson, a Bellmead City Council member, in a race decided by little more than one hundred votes.
It was a rematch between the two since Gibson ran and lost as a write-in candidate against Davis for the historically Democratic seat in the 2024 general election. In that election, Republican D.L. Wilson won by a slim margin, and Davis faces Wilson again this November.
“I did expect it to be a battle,” Davis said of this week’s results. “I think what we saw at the end is that our community believed my campaign was the strongest, and that’s the one that needed to move forward to November.”
McLennan County Commissioners in November redrew Precinct 2, a historic stronghold of Democrat-leaning minority voters, to give it a Republican advantage. But Davis said he is confident that Democrats can reclaim the Precinct 2 seat, especially after seeing Democratic turnout this week.
“My team and other fellow Democrats, we’ve looked at the new redistricting maps and we still see the numbers in Precinct 2,” Davis said.
The Democratic primary drew 15,046 McLennan County voters, 2.5 times the turnout of 6,009 Democratic voters in the 2022 midterm. In fact, it was the biggest Democratic turnout in any McLennan County primary since the presidential election year of 2008, when 24,836 voted.
The Republican primaries this year drew 23,670 voters, up 3.6% from the 22,809 that voted in the 2022 midterms.
Top-of-ballot boost
Democratic turnout was driven by several local contested races as well as a headline-grabbing duel for the U.S. Senate nomination.
One of those candidates, U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, drew a crowd Tuesday during a stump speech near the Waco Multipurpose Center vote center in East Waco.
However, McLennan County Democrats followed suit with the state as a whole, with 50.4% locally voting to nominate her rival, State Rep. James Talarico.
On a Wednesday call, McLennan County Democratic chair Mark Hays declared the party “resurrected” and “ready to compete effectively for these offices.”
“This is certainly the largest amount of participation in Democratic primary in years,” Hays said. He added that voter participation among Democrats approached 39% by Tuesday, according to preliminary county voting data.
That rate would top participation seen in the 2020 primaries, which took place during a presidential election year when voters are typically most engaged.
He singled out the Texas House District 13 and Precinct 2 County Commissioner races as opportunities to turn Democratic enthusiasm into an upset. “I think (Precinct 2) County Commissioner is an area that we will very likely win with Jeremy Davis… even with the gerrymander,” Hays said.
Representing Waco
Here are detailed results from state and federal races connected to McLennan County.
