A Handful Of Battleground Races In Texas Remain Unsettled Days After Election Day

A few battleground races in Texas are still not fully settled as the current runner-up holds off on conceding, waiting to see more votes get counted.

Here are contests where the candidate with fewer votes has not admitted defeat as of Monday night:

• State House District 112: Democratic challenger Brandy Chambers is losing to Rep. Angie Chen Button, R-Richardson, by 224 votes out of 69,009 (0.32%).
• State House District 135: Republican challenger Justin Ray is down against Rep. Jon Rosenthal, D-Houston, by 317 votes out of 74,504 (0.43%).
• State House District 47: Republican challenger Justin Berry is behind Rep. Vikki Goodwin, D-Austin, by 1,324 votes out of 134,408 (0.99%).

Rosenthal and Goodwin have declared victory, while the current No. 2 finishers across the three races have declined to concede.

All three races where there has not been a concession yet were hotly contested by both sides.

Each one factored in to the fight for the state House majority, which is remaining in Republican hands. Democrats were nine seats away from the majority before Tuesday, and they fell far short of it, picking up one seat and losing another.

In the lone congressional race that had been unresolved, Republican Beth Van Duyne defeated Democrat Candace Valenzuela. Decision Desk HQ, which is powering The Texas Tribune’s results, called the race Monday night as Van Duyne led by 4,629 votes out of 340,933. Valenzuela and Van Duyne were competing to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Kenny Marchant, R-Coppell, in what national Democrats saw as one of their best pickup opportunities in Texas. They aimed to flip 10 GOP-held seats here and have not notched any gains.

In at least the 24th Congressional District, the No. 1 finisher, Van Duyne, has called on the current runner-up to accept defeat. Valenzuela had not conceded around the time Decision Desk made the call.

“Once again, I will repeat, Beth Van Duyne will be the Congresswoman for Texas’ 24th District,” Van Duyne’s campaign manager, Donald Rickard, said in a statement Thursday. “Candace Valenzuela has no path whatsoever.”

This story was originally on the Texas Tribune. To read this article in its original format, click here.