U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, who has represented Texas Congressional District 26 since 2003, has won the Republican primary.
Burgess, R-Pilot Point, maintained 74% of the vote throughout the night, starting with early voting results.
“Clearly I’m very pleased with the results, and very flattered and humbled that the constituents of the district would consider me returning for another term,” Burgess said from Washington, D.C., Tuesday night. “It’s been my high honor to serve the constituents in the community I grew up in.”
Michael C. Burgess
His most formidable opponent Jack Wyman had 12% of the vote. Wyman, a 66-year-old recent retiree, had managed to raise $103,049 by the end of 2019 to unseat Burgess.
The other two Republican candidates, Michael Armstrong and Jason Mrochek, hovered around 7% throughout the night.
As incumbent, Burgess raised significantly more money than his opponents, reporting he had raised $715,876 by the end of 2019. Burgess also had an endorsement from President Donald Trump, and had been a vocal opponent to the impeachment process.
In the Democratic primary for the seat, Carol Iannuzzi of Lewisville had 53% of the vote throughout the night, beating out the two Denton Democrats Mat Pruneda, who had 29% of the vote, and Neil Durrance who had 17%.
Carol Iannuzzi
Iannuzzi, 59, a Lewisville resident who retired from HP Enterprise Services in 2012, said she felt good about not heading into a runoff as results continued to come in late Tuesday night.
“I’m very pleased, and I certainly appreciate both Mat Pruneda and Neil Durrance running and participating in the Democratic process,” she said. “It’s been a very good experience for all of us to engage with everyone in the Texas 26 district, and I think there’s a lot of enthusiasm.”
Burgess said he won’t start preparing for the November general election until after Labor Day, when he will then begin making general election campaign plans.
“I have a day job and I need to deal with everything happening at the federal level, and that will occupy my time the next several weeks,” he said.
Meanwhile, Iannuzzi said she’s energized heading into the November election, and feels good about her chances against Burgess with her volunteers and core team behind her.
“We aren’t stopping and will continue to work hard, and I believe we have the infrastructure to potentially beat Burgess in the fall,” she said.
