John Cyrier, a Republican candidate in the runoff for state House District 17 (Source: Campaign website)
AUSTIN – Republicans John Cyrier and Brent Golemon are advancing to a second round in the special election to replace state Rep. Tim Kleinschmidt, R-Lexington.
Neither candidate cracked 50 percent of the vote Tuesday to avoid a runoff in the five-way race for House District 17, which covers five districts in Central Texas. With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Cyrier had 46 percent to Golemon’s 24 percent.
“To be able to pull what we did tonight was just a tremendous team effort,” said Cyrier, a Lockhart construction executive. “Though we are disappointed we did not win tonight, we are so humbled and thrilled with the results.”
Brent Golemon, a Republican candidate in the runoff for state House District 17 (Source: Facebook)
“We will see this all the way through,” he added, later echoing the message in a Facebook post that says he has “no plans to slow down” as he waits on the state to pick the runoff date.
Golemon, an entrepreneur from Bastrop, could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.
The non-GOP candidates performed unusually well in the solid-red district, combining to win more votes than Golemon. Independent Linda Curtis finished with 14 percent of the vote, while Democrat Ty McDonald took 12 percent.
The runoff will likely magnify the Republicans’ conservative credentials. Before Tuesday, Golemon was already running to the right of Cyrier, positioning himself as the “principled conservative” in the race.
Kleinschmidt is vacating the seat to become general counsel for the Texas Department of Agriculture.
