Live updates: Candidates leading in Fort Worth-area’s state House and Senate races
Incumbents led North Texas’ state House and Senate races, alongside a couple of newcomers.
One newcomer, Democrat Salman Bhojani of Euless, declared victory in his House District 92 race two hours after the polls closed. His win, if it holds, would make Bhojani the first Muslim to hold a seat in the Texas Legislature, according to his team. (Suleman Lalani, a Democrat in Fort Bend County’s House District 76, is leading in his race as well, positioning him to share the title of the first Muslim state Legislature.)
The Texas Secretary of State as well as the Tarrant County elections office posted initial election results, including absentee, early and day-of votes, throughout the evening Tuesday. Those results are not yet final.
Of the five state House races and two state Senate races in the greater Fort Worth area that have incumbents running, those incumbents are leading in every race. But in three additional races — House District 92, House District 93 and Senate District 12 — the incumbents did not run for reelection, opening the door to new faces.
The representatives and senators will begin their new terms in January 2023, when the Legislature convenes for its regular session.
All of Texas’ 150 House representatives serve two-year terms.
Typically, Texas’ 31 senators each serve a four-year term. However, following the 2022 election, the elected senators will draw lots to serve either two- or four-year terms. That’s because all of the state senate seats were on the 2022 ballot following redistricting. The two- and four-year terms will create staggered elections following the first term after redistricting.
The full 2022 maps for Texas House districts and for Texas Senate districts can be found on the capitol website.
The newcomer races
Bhojani declared victory around 9 p.m. Tuesday.
Of nearly 35,000 votes reported by Wednesday morning, Bhojani received 58%, compared with Republican candidate Joe Livingston’s 42%.
“I will go to Austin to be a voice for our community and to fight for my neighbors. We will strengthen our schools, create an economy that works for all Texans, increase access to healthcare, defend our democracy, advance equality, and fight for women’s rights,” Bhojani said in a statement.
The district, which sits on the Dallas County line and includes portions of Bedford, Euless and Arlington, leans Democrat after last year’s redistricting.
After the redistricting, Republican Rep. Jeff Cason opted not to run for reelection.
The two 2022 candidates have markedly different political perspectives, according to their responses to the Star-Telegram’s candidate questionnaire.
Bhojani, a 42-year-old lawyer, supports increased gun control measures including red flag laws and raising the legal age to buy semi-automatic weapons. Bhojani also said that he’d work to increase abortion access for Texans.
Livingston, a 65-year-old who works in real estate, wrote that he supports conservative values. He’s in favor of building a wall on the border with Mexico and is opposed to any rape or incest exceptions in the state’s abortion laws.
The bulk of the reported votes for House District 93 have gone to Republican Nate Schatzline, a political newcomer who works with Fort Worth’s Mercy Culture Church.
With 58,000 votes reported, Schatzline received 60% compared with Democrat KC Chowdhury’s 40%, according to unofficial results.
In a statement, Schatzline said his election is “a win for righteousness and for our Christian Conservative Values.” He vowed to start working on securing the border, backing law enforcement and lowering taxes.
“I’m grateful for the daily encounters with the Lord that have guided me to this point, and I vow to seek Him first in everything I do! We’re just getting started,” Schatzline wrote. “God Bless Texas! God Bless America!”
HD-93, which includes a chunk of north and far north Fort Worth as well as the city of Haslet, is held by Republican Rep. Matt Krause.
Krause, who is the chairman of the House General investigating Committee, has made headlines for his push to ban certain books in schools. Krause opted not to run for reelection in HD-93 and instead ran for the Republican nomination for Tarrant County district attorney. Krause lost that nomination to Republican Phil Sorrells.
Schatzline, 30, is a pastor and also the director of operations of The Justice Reform, an anti-human trafficking nonprofit which operates as a wing of Mercy Culture Church. He supports loosening Texas’ gun laws and restricting the state’s abortion laws by allowing exceptions only when the mother’s life is at risk, according to his responses to the Star-Telegram’s candidate questionnaire.
Schatzline has also spoken at local school board members in opposition to critical race theory.
Schatzline faced off against another political newcomer, Chowdhury, a 57-year-old businessman. Chowdhury supports stricter gun laws and increased abortion access, including exceptions for cases of rape and incest.
The Republican candidate for Senate District 12, Tan Parker, received the majority of reported votes in the district.
Parker received 61% of the 345,000 votes that had been reported by the Secretary of the State by Wednesday morning. Democrat Francine Ly received 39% of those votes.
SD-12 covers all of Wise County, a large chunk of Denton County and sections of northeast Tarrant and northwest Dallas counties.
SD-12 is held by Republican Jane Nelson, who announced last summer that she would be retiring. Nelson is currently in her 10th term in the seat. She’s the highest ranking Senate Republican and the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.
Parker, who holds the House District 63 seat, is a 51-year-old businessman who has held his House seat since 2007. He supports securing the border and increased fiscal responsibility. When asked in the Star-Telegram candiddate questionnaire about abortion exceptions for rape and incest, Parker said that he believes it is essential to “protect human rights, which begin at conception.”
Parker’s opponent, Ly, is a 51-year-old court coordinator and political newcomer. Ly supports abortion access as well as some gun restrictions, such as enhanced background checks.
Races with incumbents
The Republican incumbent in House District 94, Tony Tinderholt, has received the majority of reported votes.
Tinderholt received 57% of those votes, compared with Democrat Dennis Sherrard’s 43%.
HD-94 covers a chunk of far east Fort Worth, along with the city of Hurst and chunks of Arlington.
Democrat Rep. Nicole Collier of House District 95 leads with 75% of the votes over Republican challenger Taylor Mondick with 25%.
Mondick said in a Wednesday email that his campaign had congratulated Collier on the win and “encouraged citizen-minded leadership next session.”
HD-95 covers the southern and eastern portions of Fort Worth, along with a peninsula that extends into downtown.
Rep. Craig Goldman, a Republican in House District 97, leads over Democrat Laurin McLaurin’s with 58% of the votes. Those figures include a combination of absentee, early and Election Day votes, but the results are not yet final.
HD-97 covers the southwest portion of Tarrant County, including chunks of Fort Worth and the cities of Benbrook and White Settlement.
Republican Rep. Giovanni Capriglione in House District 98 led Democratic Shannon Elkins, 66%-34%.
HD-98 covers the suburbs to the northeast of Fort Worth, including Colleyville, Keller, Grapevine and Colleyville, and a large portion of Euless.
Republican Rep. Charlie Geren in House District 99 leads Democrat Mimi Coffey with 62% of the vote.
HD-99 sits in the northwest of Tarrant County, covering a chunk of Fort Worth along with the city of Lake Worth and the Tarrant County portion of Azle.
The majority of votes for Senate District 9 have gone to Republican Sen. Kelly Hancock.
Hancock had received 62% compared to Democrat Gwenn Burud’s 38%.
Burud conceded the race and, in a statement, thanked her staff and supporters and said that it’s “difficult to out-organize disenfranchisement of voters and districts drawn for partisan gain.”
SD-9 covers about half of Tarrant County geographically. The district includes downtown Fort Worth and many of the suburbs to the north, such as Saginaw, Keller, North Richland Hills and Southlake.
Republican Sen. Brian Birdwell of Senate District 22 declared victory about three hours after the polls closed. By Wednesday morning, Birdwell had received 74% of reported votes.
In an emailed statement, Birdwell thanked his constituents.
“With their support for another term, I will continue the fight to preserve religious liberty, improve government transparency, defend Second Amendment rights, advance border security, and ensure responsible fiscal stewardship,” Birdwell said in the statement.
Birdwell’s Libertarian opponent Jeremy Schroppel had received about 26% of the vote. Schroppel said in an email that he hopes to see a more politically diverse legislature in the future.
SD-22 is a geographically large district, covering the entirety of 10 different counties to the south and southwest of Tarrant County, as well as chunks of Arlington, Euless and Mansfield in Tarrant County.
