MJ Hegar Advances To Runoff In U.S. Senate TX Democratic Primary

MJ Hegar had advanced to the runoff election in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Texas, according to The Associated Press. It's unclear who her opponent will be.

Registered voters in Texas joined residents in 13 other states and American Samoa to cast their ballots in the Democratic and Republican presidential primaries. In Texas, voters also chose their preferred candidates in other federal, statewide and county races.

Voters statewide who cast their ballot in the Democratic primaries picked their preference for a U.S. Senate candidate to challenge the Republican-held seat. According to the latest results from The Secretary of State's Office as of midnight, with 55 percent reporting, military veteran MJ Hegar is leading with just over 24 percent of the vote followed by Cristina Tzintzun Ramirez with just over 14 percent.

Powerful Republican incumbent John Cornyn, who has been in office since 2002, also faced a challenge from four candidates — Virgil Bierschwale, Dwayne Stovall, Mark Yancey and John Anthony Castro. Cornyn is leding handily over his opponents and is the presumed winner on the Republican side.

Check back here for the latest results as they come in. Patch will be providing live vote totals.

On the Democratic side, 12 candidates are vying to be on the ballot in November. An Emerson College poll released this week shows that 39 percent of Democratic voters were undecided in their choice for the party's candidate. The polls shows that 16 percent planned to support MJ Hegar, followed by Royce West who polled at 11 percent. Hegar is a military veteran who served as a pilot in the Air Force.

Below are all the candidates in the Democratic Primary and the latest vote totals:
Mary "MJ" Hegar:244,922

Royce West:101,275

D.R. Hunter: 15,048

Michael Cooper: 48,756

Adrian Ocegueda: 21,692

Sema Hernandez: 84,203

Annie "Mama" Garcia: 99,726

Chris Bell: 97,436

Amanda K. Edwards: 107,966

Cristina Tzintzun Ramirez:143,971

Victor Hugo Harris: 34,517

Jack Daniel Foster Jr.: 19,867

In a separate Univeristy of Texas/Texas Tribune poll from February, Hegar led by a slightly wider margin with support from 22 percent of Democratic primary voters in the state. However, that poll also showed that most Democratic primary voters — 34 percent — remained undecided.