AUSTIN — Oh, those runoffs.
Special elections for Texas Legislature seats are rare in West Texas, especially for the Senate. The last time this happened was 10 years ago when now-Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, beat one Democratic and five Republican opponents.
It wasn’t an easy victory for Seliger because, although he was the top vote-getter, he didn’t get a majority of the vote. So he was forced into a runoff with Kirk Edwards of Odessa, a race he won easily, with 56 percent of the vote.
The same thing happened to Rep. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, eight years earlier.