» Dutton in tight race for Texas House.
A ghost candidate is suspected of forcing the runoff election that state Rep. Harold Dutton was narrowly winning Tuesday night, over Houston City Councilman Jerry Davis.
Dutton was just barely ahead of Davis, who has represented District B on the City Council since 2011. The two moved to a runoff for the House District 142 seat after Dutton claimed about 45 percent of the vote in the March primary and Davis took the next-most out of three other candidates, with about 25 percent.
The circumstances surrounding the primary have been curious. Prompted by a news report that raised questions about one of the primary competitors, Natasha Ruiz, after reporters struggled to confirm her identity, Houston-area state lawmakers and the Texas Coalition of Black Democrats called on authorities to investigate. Ruiz, who garnered 20 percent of the vote — almost 2,600 votes — without doing any campaigning, has not been seen or heard from publicly since filing her candidacy.
In April, the Harris County Attorney’s office and the district attorney confirmed they were looking into claims that Ruiz was a ghost candidate.
Dutton’s race was one of five Houston-area state House races in the primary runoff.
In the race to fill House Speaker Dennis Bonnen’s seat in House District 25, attorney and former Angleton City Council member Cody Vasut took a strong lead over Brazoria County’s tax assessor-collector Ro’Vin Garrett. The district covers Matagorda County and some of Brazoria County.
The numbers also looked good for Democrat Akilah Bacy, who was seeking the nomination for the suburban Houston state House district that Democrats nearly flipped in 2018.
She held a wide early lead over Jennifer Rene Pool, a self-styled “angry progressive” who in 2016 became the first transgender candidate to win a primary election in Texas history.
District 138, which includes the Addicks Reservoir, Bear Creek neighborhoods and parts of Spring Branch, is wide open after Republican Dwayne Bohac announced he would retire after nearly two decades in office. Bohac
won his 2018 reelection by just 47 votes.
Over in the north and northwest part Houston state House District 148, attorney Penny Morales Shaw narrowly defeated incumbent Anna Eastman. Eastman won the seat after a November 2019 special election and a runoff this January.
“Tonight did not go as we had hoped,” Eastman said in a concessionary Facebook post. “I want to thank everyone who volunteered, voted and supported my run for 148. I look forward to continuing the fight for children and parents everywhere!”
The seat formerly belonged to Democratic Rep. Jessica Farrar, who resigned in late September of last year. Farrar had endorsed Shaw in February, calling her “the candidate that will best represent the people of the district.”
Morales Shaw had also sprung for Farrar’s seat in November but won just 8 percent of the vote in a crowded election with a dozen Democrats, two Republicans and one independent competing.
In Fort Bend County, Republicans Jacey Jetton and Matt Morgan were neck-and-neck much of the night in the state House District 26 race for Republican State Rep. Rick Miller’s seat, but Jetton ended up ahead. Jetton is a business owner and former Fort Bend Republican Party Chairman. Morgan is an insurance adjuster.
Miller, of Sugar Land, dropped out of the race in December after the Houston Chronicle reported that he said Jetton and another primary candidate were only running because they’re “Asian.” The remarks drew strong condemnation from fellow Republicans, including Gov. Greg Abbott who rescinded his endorsement of Miller.