Gates Wins Closely Watched Texas House 28 Race Over Markowitz

Republican Gary Gates has won the closely watched Texas State House race for district 28 that Democrats in the state and nationally were targeting to flip in their campaign to take control of the State House in 2020.

Gates was running against Democrat Elizabeth "Eliz" Markowitz. Final unofficial voting results from Fort Bend County show Gates with 58.05 percent of the vote and Markowitz with 41.95 percent of the vote. The unofficial vote totals include early, absentee and votes from election day. The Fort Bend County elections website shows that all 20 voting centers are reporting results.

Just over 30,000 votes were cast in the race.

The race went to a runoff after the Nov.5 general election did not result in a clear winner. In that election, Markowitz came away with 39.06 percent of the vote while Gates finished behind her with 28.45 percent of the vote. A total of seven candidates — six Republicans and one Democrat — were on the ballot in November to fill the seat vacated by Republican John Zerwas.

The race in District 28 was being targeted by state and national Democrats as part of the campaign to flip the Texas House in 2020. Gates has been endorsed by Texas' Republican governor, Greg Abbott.

Check back with Patch for the latest results from Tuesday's special election.

Read more about the competitive nature of the race and the support coming in from high-profile Democrats and Republicans via The Texas Tribune.

"Texas House District 28 is a historically Republican district that went to Mitt Romney by 30 points in 2012 and Donald Trump by 10 points in 2016," Texas Democrats said in a statement on election day. "The only reason why House District 28 is close, is because of the quality of candidate that Dr. Eliz Markowitz is, despite getting outspent nearly 2-1 and despite this being a special election -- historically suggesting low-turnout for Democrats."

Democrats contended they have an "opportunity" to win the district and the Tribune noted that the district is far from the most competitive being targeted.

On Monday, Texas Democrats released a list of 22 highly competitive State House districts that are currently held by Republicans, which included district 28. Each member of the Texas House of Representatives is up for reelection in 2020.

State Democrats say they only need nine seats to flip the State House.

Gates was also targeted by ads from a super PAC that resurfaced allegations Gates' mistreated his children in the past, according to The Texas Tribune. The case was eventually dropped by Child Protective Services and Gates pursued legal action against the agency, according to the Tribune.