On Saturday, Republicans Susan Wright and Jake Ellzey advanced from the jungle primary to fill the seat of late GOP Rep. Ron Wright (TX-06), locking Democrats out of the runoff in an increasingly purple suburban Dallas-Ft. Worth seat. But the unique format and circumstances of this race make it too early to conclude Democrats have a major turnout problem in the post-Trump era.
Wright, the late incumbent's widow, finished first with 19 percent. Ellzey, a state representative who had run here in 2018, beat out Democrat Jana Lynne Sanchez for the second runoff slot by 354 votes (13.8 percent to 13.4 percent).
This was undoubtedly a poor showing for Democrats: the 11 GOP candidates on the ballot combined for 61.9 percent of the primary vote to just 37.1 percent for the ten Democrats. That compares favorably for Republicans to last November, when Donald Trump carried the district by just 51 percent to 48 percent and the late Rep. Wright won reelection by nine points, 53 percent to 44 percent.
However, the result indicates that neither the DCCC, EMILY's List,
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