District 1 Rep. VanDeaver paid a heavy price in Tuesday's election for his seemingly unpopular stance against school choice and his insistence that Democrats should be allowed to be committee chairs in the Republican-controlled State House of Representatives.
Unofficial results showed that VanDeaver's two opponents, Chris Spencer and Dale Huls, received almost 55% of the vote in Bowie County, embarrassing the longtime representative from New Boston, who received just 45% at home.
However, Gov. Greg Abbott's HD1 endorsed candidate, Chris Spencer, received a whopping 56% vote on his Cass County home turf.
Mudslinging All-Around
The race for Texas HD1 has been controversial as VanDeaver allies have hurled mud at Spencer and Huls while Spencer has thrown dirt back at VanDeaver.
However, Dale Huls, a former NASA engineer and Air Force Veteran, seemed to stay above the fray and made a respectable showing after being endorsed by Attorney General Ken Paxton—but he lacked funds for TV advertising.
VanDeaver's Longtime Friend Also Faces Runoff
Runoff for Spencer and VanDeaver
With no candidate achieving a majority, the top two vote-getters - Gary VanDeaver and Chris Spencer - will advance to a runoff election to decide the Republican nomination for this district.
The vote totals for the Texas House District 1 race reveal a competitive three-way Republican primary contest. Incumbent Gary VanDeaver received 13,912 votes, securing 45.53% of the overall vote. As the incumbent, VanDeaver entered as the frontrunner but fell short of the 50% threshold needed to win the nomination outright.
Chris Spencer emerged as VanDeaver's top challenger, earning 13,155 votes for 43.05% of the total. Spencer performed strongly and came within striking distance of the incumbent.
Dale Huls trailed in third place with 3,490 votes, accounting for 11.42% of the total ballots cast.
The vote percentages show that VanDeaver and Spencer were locked in an ultra-competitive race, separated by just 2.48 percentage points.
This sets the stage for a fierce runoff battle between the incumbent and the challenger. VanDeaver's failure to win outright despite being the incumbent could signal voter dissatisfaction or a desire for change among Republican primary voters in this district.
What happens next?
While VanDeaver's incumbency status provides advantages heading into the runoff, Gov. Abbott's and AG Paxton's strong opposition could turn the election for Spencer.
Ultimately, the race may resemble the US House runoff between Ralph Hall and John Ratcliffe in 2014, which was primarily fought in Texarkana and Rockwall. In the end, challenger Ratcliffe beat the longtime incumbent Hall.
The runoff election will be held on May 28, 2024.
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