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San Benito Republican Janie Lopez was off to an early lead Tuesday night defending her Texas House District 37 seat against Brownsville Democrat Jonathan Gracia.
As of 10:09 p.m., Lopez had 26,271 votes, or 55.89%, to Gracia’s 20,733 votes, or 44.11% with 82.4% of precincts fully reporting.
Lopez made history in 2022 when she became the first Republican Hispanic woman to win a state House seat in South Texas in the district that stretches from Harlingen and northern Cameron County to Willacy County.
In that race, Lopez received 20,437 votes for 51.8% over Luis Villarreal, a Harlingen businessman, who received 18,995 votes for 48.2%.
Lopez, who supports school vouchers, was endorsed by Gov. Greg Abbott in the race as he stumped across the state for Republicans who back vouchers.
He visited Harlingen twice in the last two weeks, including Monday.
Abbott has lauded Lopez for supporting his conservative agenda in the Legislature, including crediting her with helping him secure funding to build Texas’ border wall.
He also said on Oct. 21 during a visit to Harlingen said Lopez’s reelection is vital to him being able to carry out his agenda.
Gracia, a Brownsville attorney, former prosecutor and justice of the peace, has touted his two decades of public service and announced a platform that calls for “helping children reach their goals by assisting public schools and the teachers who serve them.”
He also said he wants to lower utilities, improve cities and secure better paying jobs.
Prior to Lopez, the seat was held by Democrat Alex Dominguez from 2018 to 2022. He ran in the Democratic primary in 2022 for the Senate District 27 seat vacated by former Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., who retired the previous year. He lost in the primary.
Prior to Dominguez, the seat was held by former state Rep. Rene Oliveira.
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