Susan Wright, wife of Republican Ron Wright who died due to COVID-19 earlier this year, secured the top runoff spot in a short special election for a US House of Representative seat in Texas’ 6th Congressional district on Saturday. 

There were 23 people contesting in the race. Republican Jake Ellzey came in second and Democrat Jana Lynne Sanchez secured the third position. Jana failed to qualify for the runoff by less than 400 votes, reported the Washington Post. 

With this, Democrats have lost the chance to expand a House majority before the midterm elections in 2022. 

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In a statement, Gilberto Hinojosa, Texas Democratic Party Chairman said, “Although a Democrat is not advancing to the runoff, yesterday’s incredibly close margins showed that voters are invested in electing Democrats, and are fighting for the representation their communities deserve.” 

“The new Democratic South is rising, and we will continue to rally our movement to take back our state — including as we look toward the 2022 governor’s race. We’re ready to build Democratic power, ready to defeat Texas Republicans, and ready to elect leaders who defend our rights and put Texans first,” she added.

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Former president Donald Trump won the district by a narrow margin of three points in the presidential election held in November. In 2012, Mitt Romney won the district by 17 points.

Referring to these recent instances, Hinojosa tried to hint at Texas slowly moving towards Democrats. Democrat Sanchez had taken an early lead in the election as the state was dealing with a major storm and multiple power outages. Three years back, Sanchez had outperformed every Democrat who contested previously. 

The date for the runoff between Republican Jake Ellzey and Susan Wright is yet to be finalised.