Gov. Abbott postpones May 26 primary runoffs throughout Texas until July 14

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Friday that he has postponed the May 26 primary runoff elections throughout the state until July 14 because of the coronavirus threat.

Abbott signed the postponement order Friday under the emergency powers of his previous statewide disaster declaration. Dozens of runoffs are ongoing for party nominations to congressional and local offices.

In a statement, the governor's office cited “the state's ongoing efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19” as the reason for the delay. COVID-19 is the illness caused by the novel coronavirus.

State health officials have identified about 200 COVID-19 cases in Texas as of Friday, with five patients dying of the disease.

The statement said May 26 runoffs “would cause the congregation of large gatherings of people in confined spaces and cause numerous election workers to come into close proximity with others. This would threaten the health and safety of many Texans.”

Early voting for the runoffs will begin July 6.

The races impacted in El Paso County are as follows:

District Attorney:

• Yvonne Rosales
• James Montoya

El Paso County Commissioner's Court Precinct 3:

• Vince Perez
• Iliana Holguin

388th District Court:

• Marlene Gonzalez
• Laura Strathmann

383th District Court:

• Lucila Flores
• Lyda Ness Garcia

U.S. Representative District 16 (Republican):

• Sam Williams
• Irene Armendariz-Jackson