“I am completely humbled and honored to accept the Republican Nomination for Texas State Senate District 27!” said Hinojosa in a social media post. “Together, we will bring this seat home to the Republican Party in November!”
The Republican primary race ended cordially, with Hinojosa’s two opponents, former state Rep. Raul Torres and conservative activist Isreal Salinas, both congratulating him on the nomination.
Torres placed second in the primary with about 35 percent of the vote.
Thanking his supporters and congratulating Hinojosa, Torres said, “May God’s wisdom and grace guide all of the winners in the coming months as they race towards the November General Elections.”
“I urge all the winners to never forget why they choose to run in the first place,” said Torres. “An elected official has, is and should always remember they are ‘public servants.’”
Salinas called Hinojosa “a very good man” and said he would “be supporting him in every way that I can to get him elected in November.”
“The conservative movement is growing throughout South Texas and we are united to ensure this senate seat goes RED!” said Salinas.
SD 27 is currently held by retiring Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr. (D-Brownsville), who, alongside many other lawmakers from the Rio Grande Valley, endorsed Democratic businesswoman Morgan LaMantia in the race to succeed him.
LaMantia comes from an influential family in South Texas and reported raising the most out of any candidate in either primary, receiving over a million dollars in campaign loans from other family members.
But even with the many endorsements and strong financial backing, LaMantia received about a third of the vote.
“Our campaign elevated the issues that honor the sacrifices parents make every day to build a better life for their families and their community,” said LaMantia. “That’s who I am. Those are the values I was raised with. And the voters responded placing us first headed into a runoff.”
LaMantia will face Stapleton-Barrera, who also received about a third of the vote, in a May 24 runoff election.
“Thank you to all of you that came out to vote, for those that got others to come out to vote, and to our grassroots financial supporters, we are in the run-off scheduled for May 24, 2022,” said Stapleton-Barrera. “We need one more successful election and we can bring your senatorial district representation back to the people.”
In 2020, Stapleton-Barrera ran a strong primary challenge against Lucio as a progressive alternative, sharply criticizing him for his pro-life position.
Though receiving Lucio’s endorsement, LaMantia says that she takes a different view than the incumbent on abortion policies and would have voted against Senate Bill 8, the Texas Heartbeat Act.
During the redistricting process, SD 27 was left as the most competitive state Senate seat.
It still leans toward Democrats, who garnered an average of 57 percent of the vote against Republicans within the new district lines over the last two elections.
But South Texas, where the district is located, is ground zero for Republican attempts to gain more political seats.
In the last midterm election cycle of 2018, almost 17,000 voters turned out in SD 27 for the Republican primary election. This year, 26,000 voters cast a ballot in the Republican primary for the seat.
Meanwhile, the turnout in the Democratic primary remained roughly unchanged. 39,000 voters turned out in that primary for 2018, and about 40,000 voters cast a ballot in the primary for the race this year.
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Daniel Friend
Daniel Friend is the Marketing and Media Manager for The Texan. After graduating with a double-major in Political Science and Humanities, he wrote for The Texan as a reporter through June 2022. In his spare time, you're likely to find him working on The Testimony of Calvin Lewis, an Abolition of Man-inspired novel and theatrical podcast.
