As widely expected, Republican Wesley Hunt defeated Democrat Duncan Klussmann 64% to 35% to become the first representative of Texas’ newly drawn 38^th Congressional District.

Hunt, a former Army captain and Iraq War veteran, benefitted from a map that Republican state lawmakers drew largely with him specifically in mind. TX-38 stretches across northwestern Houston and Harris County, including the suburbs of Jersey Village, Cypress, Tomball, and Katy. It includes conservative portions of what was previously Texas’ 7^th Congressional District, a swing district prior to the 2021 redistricting cycle.

“Serving the people of Texas’s 38th Congressional District will be the greatest honor of my life,” Hunt said in an emailed statement. “The support our campaign received from every corner of the district has been overwhelming, and I am incredibly grateful to all my supporters for dedicating their time and resources to this extremely important cause.”

Hunt said his top priority would be to “restore our energy independence”, lower inflation, address security at the southern border, and “make our nation a safer place to live.”

“The American people have spoken, and they have overwhelmingly rejected the Biden Administration’s agenda and one-party Democrat rule in Washington,” Hunt said.

Earlier this year, political scientist Michael O. Adams of Texas Southern University broke down what’s known as the Partisan Voter Index of TX-38 for Houston Public Media.

“If we were to look at those voters in Congressional District 38, how they voted in the last presidential election, 58.4% of those voters voted for Trump and 40.2% of those voters voted for Biden,” Adams said.

Hunt previously ran, and lost, against Democratic Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher in TX-7 in 2020.

Klussmann, Hunt’s opponent, is a clinical assistant professor at the University of Houston’s College of Education. He served as superintendent of Spring Branch ISD for 11 years and as a member of the city council of Jersey Village.

Close by, Republican Morgan Luttrell beat Democrat Laura Jones 70% to 29% in Texas’ 8^th Congressional District. Luttrell, a retired Navy SEAL, emerged from a crowded primary to succeed retiring Republican Congressman Kevin Brady. TX-8 stretches from the northern outskirts of metro Houston across nine counties, including portions of Harris County and all of Montgomery County (including Conroe).

Jones, Luttrell’s opponent, previously served as chair of the San Jacinto County Democratic Party.

Elsewhere across the region, all incumbent members of Congress easily won reelection. Republican Congressman Dan Crenshaw beat Democratic challenger Robin Fulford by 66% to 34%. Democratic Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher defeated Republican challenger Johnny Teague in TX-7 by 65% to 35%. Democratic Congressman Al Green beat Republican challenger Jimmy Leon in TX-9 by 78% to 22%. Democratic Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee defeated Republican challenger Carmen Maria Montiel in TX-18 by 72% to 25%. Republican Congressman Troy Nehls triumphed over Democratic challenger Jamey Kaye Jordan in TX-22 by 63% to 35%. And Democratic Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia defeated Republican challenger Robert Schafranek in TX-29 by 72% to 28%.

Source: houstonpublicmedia

The city and county bond packages will provide infrastructure and facilities upgrades for a range of government services, including transportation, public safety, and parks and recreation.

Voters in Houston and Harris County overwhelmingly supported bond packages totaling nearly $1.7 billion, which will provide for improvements to a range of government services – from roads, parks, and trails to public health and wellness to facilities upgrades for police officers, firefighters, and court personnel.

All three county bond proposals passed Tuesday by at least 120,000 votes apiece, according to unofficial election results released Wednesday morning by the Harris County Elections Administrator’s Office. Voters countywide were asked to provide up to $1.2 billion in taxpayer funding for the three propositions, related to public safety, transportation and parks and trails.

Each of the seven bond proposals on the ballot for Houston voters – totaling $478 million – also passed by comfortable margins. City voters showed better than 2-to-1 support for six of those propositions, with the request for $29 million for improvements to existing city administration buildings passing by a margin of 53.7 percent to 46.3 percent.

Below is a breakdown of each of the approved bond proposals, according to information provided by the city and county.

Harris County

Proposition A: The issuance of $100 million in public safety bonds for land acquisition, facilities construction or improvements and technology upgrades for law enforcement, county courtrooms and data systems used for court management and crime prevention.

Proposition B: Up to $900 million in road bonds for construction and maintenance of transportation and stormwater drainage infrastructure, including roadways for vehicles as well as facilities for pedestrians, cyclists and mass transit users.

Proposition C: The issuance of $200 million in parks bonds for new construction and/or maintenance of park facilities and trails, including floodable parks and inclusive parks for those with disabilities.

City of Houston

Proposition A: Up to $277 million in public improvement bonds for facilities acquisition, construction and rehabilitation, along with equipment, for the city’s police and fire departments.

Proposition B: The issuance of $60 million in bonds for the conservation, acquisition, construction and improvement of neighborhood parks and trails along with other recreational facilities.

Proposition C: Up to $47 million in public improvement bonds for building construction and renovation along with equipment for animal care purposes and BARC, the city’s animal shelter.

Proposition D: The issuance of $30 million in bonds for the acquisition, construction and rehabilitation of city-owned buildings and facilities to support and provide public health and wellness services.

Proposition E: The issuance of $29 million in bonds for construction, rehabilitation and equipment for existing city administrative buildings and facilities.

Proposition F: Up to $26 million in bonds for the city’s public library system and facilities, to be used on land acquisition, construction, renovations and equipment.

Proposition G: The issuance of $6 million in bonds for facilities and equipment improvements for the city’s Solid Waste Management Department, which handles garbage and recycling pickup.

 Multiple issues have been reported at polling locations in Harris County this Election Day, according to Harris County Elections.

KPRC 2 has learned that the Metropolitan Multi-Service Center, located at 1475 W. Gray St., has been experiencing “serious computer problems” this morning and only two machines were working at 7 a.m., according to a manager at the location.

The manager told KPRC 2 there were no previous issues reported during early voting.

When KPRC 2 photog Cesar Martinez left the location, a total of 10 out of 50 ballot machines were reportedly working, Martinez said.

Harris County Elections has acknowledged that issues have been reported from multiple polling locations across the county.

A spokesperson for Harris County Elections sent the following statement to KPRC 2 in regard to the issues:

“We are well aware of the issues and we have had all hands on deck to answer the support lines for our election workers to get things resolved as quickly as possible.” 

KPRC will be reporting any issues that we see here, so continue to check back for more updates as they become available.

Are you having any issues while trying to cast a ballot? Give us a call during our Election Day phone bank in collaboration with the League of Women Voters Houston and Telemundo Houston at (713) 778-8920 (English) or (713) 778-8930 (Spanish).

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day. If you registered to vote by Oct. 11 and meet all other requirements, you have a right to cast a ballot as long as you’re in line at a polling location by 7 p.m.

For more information on polling locations and wait times, go to www.harrisvotes.com.