Trump flexes endorsement power as Army combat vet wins Texas GOP runoff

Alex Mealer, an Army combat veteran and energy executive backed by President Donald Trump, is one step closer to winning election to the House.

Mealer defeated state Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Texas, in a GOP primary runoff election for a Houston-based congressional seat Tuesday, according to The Associated Press.

The matchup in the solidly Republican district was another test of Trump’s endorsement power, which has proven to be decisive in several high-profile races this year. 

The president endorsed Mealer shortly before the first round of voting in March, during which she emerged as the top vote-getter with 36% of the vote.

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Mealer notably received a boost from the conservative Club for Growth, which is frequently one of the top spenders in GOP primaries. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, also backed her campaign.

Because Mealer did not secure a majority of the vote, the race went to a runoff election against Cain, who came in second and notched 31% of the vote.

Cain has served in the Texas House of Representatives since 2017 and was endorsed by Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas. He is viewed as one of the most conservative members of the state legislature and has touted endorsements from the National Rifle Association (NRA), Concerned Women for America, Young Republicans of Texas and the Texas Homeschool Coalition PAC, among other Republican-aligned groups.

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The primary winner will face environmental activist Leticia Gutierrez in the general election. 

The newly redrawn seat is widely expected to flip to Republican control and is rated noncompetitive by the Cook Political Report. Trump would have carried the district by nearly 20 points in 2024.

Republicans redrew the Democratic-heavy seat last year as part of a GOP-friendly gerrymander that effectively ousted Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, from the district he had represented for more than two decades.

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Green ultimately chose to challenge Rep. Christian Menefee, D-Texas, for Houston’s lone Democratic seat, which also went to a runoff election Tuesday.

Mealer narrowly lost a bid for Harris County Judge in 2022 against Judge Lina Hidalgo. She also received the president’s backing during that campaign.