Early returns give Democrat Taylor Rehmet lead in Tarrant County state Senate runoff

AUSTIN — Democrat Taylor Rehmet jumped to a lead over Republican Leigh Wambsganss in a runoff Saturday for a Tarrant County state Senate seat, unofficial early results showed after polls closed at 7 p.m.

The returns included only early and mail-in votes, with the rest being tallied late Saturday. But they indicated that Rehmet’s trend of over-performing in what is considered a safe Republican district continued. He had 56.2% of the vote to Wambsganss’ 43.8%.

Political leaders in Texas and Washington were watching the race closely as a possible midterm bellwether for the two major parties.

Despite the northern Tarrant County district heavily favoring Republicans, Rehmet, a Fort Worth union leader, came within 3 percentage points of flipping the seat in November’s election.

Before Saturday’s runoff, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who leads the GOP-dominated Senate in Austin, warned that Democrats would spend heavily in Texas if Rehmet pulls off the upset.

Conservative alarm even pushed President Donald Trump to call attention to a race once expected to be a GOP romp.

“Leigh Wambsganss, a Republican running for the State Senate in the suburbs of Fort Worth, Texas, will be a GREAT Candidate and has my Complete and Total endorsement,” Trump said on social media.

Wambsganss, 58, is a Southlake resident. Along with Trump’s endorsement, she had nods from many of Texas’ leading Republicans, including Patrick, Gov. Greg Abbott and Sen. Ted Cruz. She is a vice president of Patriot Mobile, a cellphone service provider that promotes conservative ideas, such as preserving bans on abortion and fighting gun control.

Rehmet, 33, is an Air Force veteran, an aircraft mechanic who works on F-35s for Lockheed Martin and a labor organizer. His campaign has drawn support from the state’s top Democrats, including Senate candidate James Talarico, an Austin state representative.

Both Rehmet and Wambsganss are seeking an elected office for the first time. The Senate district, where voters heavily backed Trump in 2024, covers most of northern Tarrant County, including parts of Fort Worth, Southlake and North Richland Hills.

Wambsganss’ campaign has focused on reducing property taxes, and Rehmet has emphasized affordability.

The district’s former senator, Republican Kelly Hancock, resigned in June and is now acting state comptroller.

That vacancy forced a special election in November, drawing three challengers: Rehmet, Wambsganss and another Republican. Rehmet’s 47.6% showing fell short of a majority, triggering a runoff with Wambsganss.

The contest was expected to have low turnout, but freezing weather last week that shut down several early-voting locations could further dampen the final count. At the end of early voting on Tuesday, about 7.5% of eligible voters had cast ballots, according to Tarrant County’s election department.

No matter who wins, there will be a rematch in November. The winner will serve out the final year of Hancock’s four-year Senate term. Rehmet and Wambsganss are on the ballot again March 3 in their respective party’s primary. Both are running unopposed.