SAN ANTONIO — John Lujan and Frank Ramirez are heading to a runoff in the race to fill a vacant seat in the Texas House of Representatives after votes were reported Tuesday night.
Five candidates were vying to fill the remainder of the current term in Texas House District 118.
With all voting centers reporting, Lujan captured 2,938 (41.53%) of the votes, followed by Ramirez with 1,416 (20.01%) of the votes. Other candidates were Desi Martinez with 1,244 (17.58%), Katie Farias with 854 (12.07%) and Adam E. Salyer with 623 (8.81%).
None of the candidates exceeded 50% of the vote, forcing the runoff; the date for a potential runoff election has not been set.
District 118 covers portions of south and east Bexar County. Democrat Leo Pacheco had represented the district since 2019, but resigned his seat in August to take a position with San Antonio College.
Pacheco got 56.7% of the vote in the November 2020 general election to defeat Republican Adam Salyer (39.9%) and Libertarian Eric Velasquez (3.3%.)
Lujan, a Republican, briefly held the seat in 2016 following a special election. Ramirez, a Democrat, was the former zoning and planning director for San Antonio City Council District 7.
Pacheco has endorsed Ramirez to fill the remainder of his term. The seat will be back on the general election ballot in November 2022.
The Texas Tribune contributed to this report.