Beth Van Duyne wins Republican primary for US House District 24, while Democratic race appears set for runoff

In the 24th District, former Irving Mayor Beth Van Duyne easily won her Republican primary.

Van Duyne took the lead early on in the Republican primary and finished at the clear leader. She was endorsed by President Trump, who appointed her as the regional director of HUD in 2018.

But on the Democrat side, there will be a runoff on May 26 between Kim Olsen and Candace Valenzuela. Both are confident they can flip the longtime Republican seat that serves the suburbs of northwest Dallas.

Olson is an Air Force veteran who ran for agriculture commissioner in 2018 and came within five points of defeating the GOP incumbent. Vote totals on Wednesday morning put her 13 points ahead of Valenzuela, a former Carrollton-Farmers Branch school board trustee.

"Our work here is far from over. This is going to be intense," Valenzuela said. "We are gonna have a couple of those to go and I know you are with me in this because this isn't just my race. It's your race too."

"The demographics of this is changing. The need for leadership brings people together. To be a leader that shows up and works for the people of North Texas versus just staying in DC at the time. And the last thing is I think we have an effect on the White House right now in which people are -- especially women -- not happy about the leadership and direction this nation is going to. And they want something different," Olson said.

The seat is now held by retiring Republican Congressman Kenny Merchant, who has been serving since 2005.

Jan McDowell, who nearly beat Marchant in 2018, was back on the ballot but finished far behind Olson and Valenzuela.

Resources

Election Results
2020 Texas Primaries Voter's Guide
Latest Super Tuesday 2020 News