Trump’s former doctor wins House GOP nomination in Texas

AUSTIN, Texas — President Donald Trump’s former White House physician won the Republican nomination for a U.S. House seat in Texas on Tuesday in a primary runoff election that unfolded amid an alarming spread of the coronavirus across the state.

Ronny Jackson, a retired Navy rear admiral, defeated Josh Winegarner in a primary runoff in the deeply red Texas Panhandle. Jackson was also the White House physician to presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, and Trump’s endorsement for his former doctor carried Jackson to victory in his first run for office.

Voters in Texas were also picking Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate to go up against Republican incumbent John Cornyn. The race between MJ Hegar, a former Air Force helicopter pilot who nearly won a House seat in 2018, and state Sen. Royce West remained too close to call hours after polls closed.

Wearing masks and trying to keep their distance, voters headed out to polls in blazing 100-degree afternoon heat and at a moment when Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is urging the public to stay home as Texas struggles to contain one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in the country.

Abbott, who has warned that the infection numbers will likely get even worse, did not include polling places under a recent statewide mask order, and unlike many states, Texas has fought efforts to expand mail-in balloting during the pandemic.

On Tuesday, Texas reported a record 10,745 confirmed new cases in a single day and 87 new deaths. The rate of positive cases also climbed to nearly 17% — also a new high.

Runoff elections in Texas typically have low turnout, and by Tuesday afternoon, elections officials reported few cases of long lines in the state’s largest counties. More than 1 million ballots were cast in early voting — higher than most primary runoffs in recent years but only a fraction of the state’s 16 million registered voters.