The race for the Republican nomination to challenge U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards will come down to a runoff between a wealthy Bryan businessman, Bill Flores, and the unsuccessful 2008 GOP candidate for the District 17 seat, Rob Curnock.
As of 11 p.m. Tuesday, 98 percent of the precincts had reported and Flores, 55, had won the most votes with 21,297, or 33.22 percent. Curnock, who owns a video production store in Waco, came in second with 18,309, or 28.56 percent. Because neither of them won a majority, they will face off against each other on April 13.
In third, Texas A&M terrorism expert Dave McIntyre received 11,710 votes, or 18.26 percent. Waco businessman Chuck Wilson collected 9,721 votes, 15.16 percent, and College Station nurse Timothy Delasandro finished last with 3,070 votes, or 4.78 percent.
"I am thrilled with the way it turned out," Flores said after monitoring results with supporters and campaign staff at the College Station Hilton. "I am very pleased with the support and very honored and humbled."
Flores, who made his fortune in the oil and gas industry, campaigned as a businessman who knows how to create jobs in the current difficult economic times. He pumped hundreds of thousands of dollars of his own money into the race, and boasted of a campaign organization that can challenge Edwards in November.
Curnock, meanwhile, told voters that he was the only battle-tested candidate. He came close to beating Edwards in 2008 when no one else wanted to run, and he can finish the job in 2010, he said.
Curnock, 52, had predicted late last month that he would emerge victorious without needing a runoff. Still, he sounded an optimistic tone looking forward.
"We wish we didn't have a runoff because we want to focus on the Democratic incumbent and focus our attention on finishing what we started [in 2010]," he said. "But we have just got to focus on getting our people out. We were outspent by over $500,000, and for us to be where we are is probably a little understandable."
He tracked the votes in his Waco campaign headquarters, while volunteers in offices across the district watched online.
Chuck Wilson and Dave McIntyre touted expertise on key issues that they gained during their careers, and Timothy Delasandro promised a strict adherence to a literal interpretation of the Constitution.
Many political observers have been expecting a runoff in this race for months, given the large number of candidates and their comparable name recognition and public service history. The two remaining candidates now have about six more weeks to reach more voters and lobby for endorsements from the other candidates.
The race may turn on who can attract the most voters outside their hometown. Flores easily carried Brazos County on Tuesday night with 42.5 percent of the vote, with Curnock coming in third here with 18.5 percent. Curnock, meanwhile, won McClennan County, which contains Waco, with 34 percent compared to Flores' 32 percent.
The winner will face a tough general election against the 10-term incumbent Edwards, who has been highlighted as a potentially vulnerable Democrat by the National Republican Congressional Committee.
Republicans hope Edwards is vulnerable because of a perceived national frustration with the Democratic Party. Edwards' district is solidly Republican, and he faced a close race against Curnock in 2008, when Democrats were riding a wave of popularity.
Edwards is battle tested, however, having faced several heavily financed candidates in the past decade. He has struck a optimistic tone for the November general election, and announced in January that he has $1.3 million in his campaign coffers ready for the general election.
He faced no primary opponent this month, and may benefit from six more weeks of Republicans battling against each other.
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