Abbott schedules July special runoff election for Texas’ 6th District
AUSTIN, Texas — The special runoff election in Texas’ 6th Congressional District will take place on July 27, Gov. Greg Abbott announced in a proclamation Wednesday, with early voting starting July 19.
The runoff features two Republican candidates, Susan Wright and Jake Ellzey, vying for the seat held by Republican Rep. Ron Wright, who died in February after contracting Covid-19. Susan Wright is Ron Wright’s widow.
Wright and Ellzey forced the special runoff election earlier this month after beating out a sprawling field of Republicans and Democrats competing for the US House seat.
Wright had received a boost when former President Donald Trump endorsed her over the 10 other Republicans in the race. She has focused much of her campaign on her husband’s legacy, but was also quick to promote the President’s endorsement.
Ellzey, meanwhile, is a Navy veteran who lost to Ron Wright in the 2018 primary. He represents a state House district south of Dallas and has had the support of Rick Perry, a former Texas governor and former US energy secretary .
While Ron Wright was reelected by 9 percentage points in 2020, the 6th District has been trending more Democratic in recent elections. In 2012, GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney carried the district with a 17-percentage-point margin. Trump won it by 12 percentage points in 2016 but by only 3 last year.
