Brent Hagenbuch won the Republican primary runoff election on Tuesday for Texas Senate District 30 over Jace Yarborough despite lingering questions about his residency and eligibility to run for the seat.
Hagenbuch, who reportedly resides in Texas Senate District 12, resigned from his Denton County Republican Party Chair position to run for the open seat in Senate District 30 after incumbent Texas Sen. Drew Springer (R-Muenster) announced that he would not seek re-election, Texas Scorecard reported.
“I look forward to spending the remainder of the year, continuing to travel the District, and preparing to represent the interests of our area in the Texas Senate. The voters have made clear that border security, education choice, property taxes, and economic growth are top priorities. They will be my focus,” Hagenbuch said in a statement, per The Texas Tribune.
In a statement conceding his loss, Yarbrough said, “Whatever God has planned in the future for me and my family, I plan to keep fighting for the conservative values our state holds dear. I have no regrets about the campaign — rather, I’m grateful for the opportunity to stand up for the values I believe in,” the Tribune reported.
Questions about Hagenbuch’s residency that arose during the primary season remain unresolved.
State law requires that a Senate candidate live in the District that he or she is seeking to represent for a minimum of one year before election day, which in this case would be November 5. Texas Scorecard reported that voting history records show Hagenbuch voted on October 29 in Senate District 12, not in Senate District 30.
Yarborough and another Republican primary candidate, Carrie DeMoor, filed suit against Hagenbuch ahead of the March primary, submitting records showing the address in his SD 30 campaign filing was a newly completed office building and not a personal residence. Both his voter registration and candidate application forms from mid-November 2023 were filled out with the address of his office building in District 30 listed as his residence, but state law prohibits voters from using a commercial address on their application.
Hagenbuch changed his residential address in late November to an apartment across from his office, but candidates are required by law to have lived within their district for at least a year prior to the general election.
This past weekend, Yarborough brought the residency question to the attention of newly elected Texas GOP Chair Abraham George, submitting a challenge to have Hagenbuch replaced on the November general election ballot, according to the Tribune.
Yarbrough says that its up to the RPT and the courts to decide on the residency issue and hopes that the state legislature enforces the residency laws.
“I am immensely proud of our campaign and will be forever grateful for the countless individuals who donated their time, talent, and treasure to our cause. Regarding the various challenges to Brent Hagenbuch’s residency, while I stand by the facts presented in these challenges, they remain in the hands of the final canvassing authority–the Republican Party of Texas State Chairman–and our court system. It is their prerogative what to do with the facts presented. My sincerest hope is that the Texas Legislature takes up the mantle of clarifying and reinforcing our residency laws so this never happens again.”
Hagenbuch pushed back against the ineligibility claims, stating that he lives in District 30 and that his rivals are fabricating the accusations because they could not defeat him at the polls.
A judge has allowed Hagenbuch to continue campaigning while the suit plays out, the Tribune reported.
The Dallas Express reached out to Hagenbuch, but he was not immediately available for comment.