Special elections

There have been four special elections for seats in the Texas Legislature since December 2018:

  • SD 6 – On December 11, former state Rep. Carol Alvarado won a four-way special election to replace Sylvia Garcia, who won the November race for Congressional District 29.
  • HD 79 – On January 29, long-time El Paso Community College Board Trustee Arthur “Art” Fierro won a three-way race to replace retiring Rep. Joe Pickett.
  • HD 145 – On March 5, TREPAC-supported Christina Morales won her special election runoff. The first round of elections was eight-way special election on January 29. The seat was vacated when Carol Alvarado won the SD 6 seat.
  • HD 125 – On March 12, former San Antonio City Councilman Ray Lopez won the race for HD 125, vacated by former Rep. Justin Rodriguez, who was appointed to be a Bexar County Commissioner.

May 4 municipal elections

Texas REALTORS® staff assisted local boards with strategic guidance and member voter data to assist in supporting their local candidates with phone banks.

Additionally, the Political Affairs Department executed two successful Issues Mobilization campaigns in Ellis and Montague counties, as detailed in the Issues Mobilization report.

TexasRealtorsSupport.com

This municipal election cycle marked the first time TREPAC-supported local candidates appeared on TexasRealtorsSupport.com. Users who visited the site saw a list of all 127 candidates for city councils and school boards who received TREPAC support for their contested elections. Users could refine the list by local board, city, county, REALTOR® association membership, and local-board priority races.

Texas REALTORS® PAC

The Texas REALTORS® PAC engaged in 16 races in the May 4 municipal elections, winning 11 races, losing 3 losses, with two races initially undecided (not named below).

According to ethics reports, the Texas REALTORS® PAC expenditures totaled approximately $139,900.

Boards who announce their support early and publicly usually get the most out of the Texas REALTORS® PAC for their candidates.

  • Allen City Council, Place 6 – Baine Brooks (Win)
  • Amarillo Mayor – Ginger Nelson (Win)
  • Amarillo City Council, Place 1 – Elaine Hayes (Win)
  • Amarillo City Council, Place 2 – Freda Powell (Win)
  • Amarillo City Council, Place 3 – Eddy Sauer (Win)
  • Amarillo City Council, Place 4 – Texas REALTOR® Howard Smith (Win)
  • Arlington Mayor – Jeff Williams (Win)
  • Alice Mayoral Candidate – Texas REALTOR® Cynthia Carrasco (Loss)
  • Frisco City Council, Place 2 – Shona Huffman (Win)
  • Frisco City Council, Place 4 – Bill Woodard (Win)
  • Grand Prairie ISD, Place 6 – Emily Liles (Win)
  • Harlingen City Commissioner, Place 2 – Tudor Uhlhorn – (Loss)
  • Plano City Council, Place 3 – Rick Grady (Win)
  • Tarrant Regional Water District Board – Texas REALTOR® C.B. Team (Loss)

Stop Forced Annexation

Texas REALTORS® engaged in successful campaigns to stop forced annexation in two North Texas counties this spring, with incredible approval rates: 

  • Montague County: 91.02% voted “for” (1,409 of 1,548 total votes)
  • Ellis County: 87.06% voted “for” (11,855 of 13,617 total votes)

The Texas REALTORS® Issues Mobilization Committee approved grants for both campaigns and staff sought and received an additional grant from the National Association of REALTORS®.

After six annexation campaign wins in 2018, this brought Texas REALTORS® to a perfect 8-0 in efforts to stop forced municipal annexation at the county level.

The success of these campaigns demonstrated to the Texas Legislature that Texans oppose the concept of forced annexation and played a part in the overwhelming passage of House Bill 347—legislation that stops forced annexation statewide and requires municipalities to seek voter approval in the area they seek to annex.

On May 24, Gov. Greg Abbott signed the bill into law, effective immediately.