A large swath of Tarrant County will decide its next Texas senator in a Jan. 31 runoff, after a tight three-person special election that saw the lone Democrat take an unexpected lead.

Gov. Greg Abbott announced the runoff date Monday afternoon. Senate District 9 candidates will share the date with several other special elections happening across the state.

Voters will decide between Fort Worth Democrat Taylor Rehmet and Southlake Republican Leigh Wambsganss , neither of whom claimed over 50% of the vote in the Nov. 4 election.

Whoever wins Jan. 31 will be up for reelection later that year — first in the May 2026 primaries, then in the November 2026 midterms. The special election winner is to serve the last 11 months of Kelly Hancock ’s term, after the former senator resigned to beco

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