Senate District 6 Special Election

This past Saturday, the special election to fill the vacant Senate seat of the late Senator Mario Gallegos was held.  Senator Gallegos passed away October 16, following complications associated with a 2007 liver transplant.

Because the election failed to produce candidate that surpassed 50 percent of the vote, the race extends to a runoff, which will likely be held in late February or early March.

Former Harris County Commission Sylvia Garcia garnered 7,416 votes about 45.4 percent of the vote, while State Representative Carol Alvarado received 6,803 or 41.6 percent of ballots cast.  5.6 percent of the eligible voters in the Senate District turned out to cast a vote on Saturday.

The most recent campaign finance filing period ended Jan. 18, with Garcia reporting about $164,000 raised since Jan. 1, expenditures of $300,000 and about $228,400 remaining in her war chest. A pre-election telegram report, which is filed to report contributions received after the date of the last report, shows Garcia raised an additional $14,500.

Alvarado raised about $185,000 during the same time period, spent about $315,000 and has about $110,000 left on hand. She also raised about $20,000 after the filing date, according to her telegram reports on file with the Texas Ethics Commission.

The Houston Chronicle reported Wednesday that plaintiff’s attorney and Democratic donor Steve Mostyn provided a bulk of Garcia’s support, including about $80,400 in in-kind contributions from the Texas Organizing Project PAC. Mostyn is a major contributor to that group.