Texas Rep. Craig Goldman won the Republican primary runoff election for U.S. Representative of Texas’s 12th Congressional District, besting challenger John O’Shea.
With 99% of precincts tallied, Goldman (R-Fort Worth) was chosen by a majority of voters, with 16,772 votes (63%) to O’Shea’s 9,898 votes (37%), reported WFAA.
Goldman was backed by several Texas politicians including former governor Rick Perry, Texas Speaker of the House Dade Phelan, and Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, according to Fox 4 KDFW.
Goldman was also endorsed by Gov. Greg Abbott and the current U.S. Representative for Texas’s 12th Congressional District, Kay Granger (R-TX), who did not seek re-election, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
O’Shea, a local businessman, was endorsed by Attorney General Ken Paxton. Unlike Goldman, he ran a campaign that was critical of Rep. Granger, questioning whether she was really a Republican, according to Fox 4. O’Shea campaigned for securing the southern border, becoming a more energy-independent country, and promoting economic policies meant to benefit taxpayers, as reported by DX.
Goldman also faced his share of opposition in the election, as evinced by the launch of a website that criticized his platform and campaign.
The website called out Goldman for voting to impeach Paxton, accusing him of supporting Democratic control of the Texas House, opposing term limits, and not supporting barring illegal aliens from voting, as reported by DX.
Goldman has served as the Texas House District 97 Representative since 2012. He has also led the Texas House Energy Resources Committee in the last two legislative sessions.
With the runoff victory secured, Goldman will face his Democratic challenger, Trey Hunt, in the general election on November 5.