Early voting begins today and continues until Friday, July 23rd in the runoff election for Texas 6th Congressional District. Election day is July 27th.
A total of 23 candidates filed to run for the seat vacated when Congressman Ron Wright lost his long-term battle with cancer, complicated by Covid-19. The two top vote-getters from that election, Susan Wright and Jake Ellzey face each other in the runoff.
Susan Wright, the widow of the late Congressman, received 19.2% of the vote and was the top vote-getter in the first round. Most recently Wright was the District Director for State Representatives Bill Zedler and David Cook. She has served as a Republican Precinct Chair and as an SREC committee member. She has been active in the Republican party in Arlington and Tarrant County for over 30-years. She was endorsed by former President Donald Trump.
Commander Jake Ellzey, USN Retired, lost to Ron Wright in the Republican primary for this seat in 2019. He went on to be elected to the Texas State House of Representatives in 2020. Rules allow Ellzey to retain his Texas House seat while running for Congress. He was endorsed by former Governor Rick Perry who served in Donald Trump’s cabinet. He was second in the first round of voting with 13.8% of the vote. He is a resident of Ellis County and works as a commercial pilot based at DFW.
Both Wright and Ellzey are running as Republicans, so the seat will remain in Republican hands. There is very little difference between the candidates on the essential issues. The winner will serve the remaining term and will stand for re-election in 2022.
Voting locations in Tarrant County: https://www.tarrantcounty.com/content/dam/main/elections/2021/0721/locations/0721_EV_Sched.pdf