Texas Senate Candidate Backed by Adelson Finishes Distant Third, Fails to Make Runoff

^{John Huffman, the former mayor of Southlake, Texas, was backed by Miriam Adelson in his unsuccessful run for a seat in the Texas Senate. (Photo: @john.r.huffman / Instagram)}

Despite $1.2 million in campaign donations from Las Vegas Sands majority owner Miriam Adelson, former Southlake mayor John Huffman finished a distant third in his bid to win the District 9 seat in the Texas Senate on Tuesday.

Huffman finished with approximately 16.5% of the vote, failing to qualify for a runoff election where no candidate was able to claim a majority.

Republican Candidates Battled Over Gambling Expansion

Democrat Taylor Rehmet finished first with 47.6% of the vote, while Leigh Wambsganss claimed 36% in the three-way race. 

The contest featured Huffman and Wambsganss as the sole two Republicans. Rather than battling against Rehmet, the two GOP candidates spent much of the campaign fighting each other, with a substantial part of that argument coming over the issue of casino gambling.

Wambsganss, the chief communications officer for Patriot Mobile, repeatedly blasted Huffman for his support from outside gambling interests such as Adelson, the billionaire who also owns the Dallas Mavericks. 

Beyond Adelson’s donations, a Sands-funded group known as Texas Defense PAC spent around $2 million more in support of Huffman’s election.

Adelson and Las Vegas Sands have pushed for legalized casino gambling in Texas over the past two years. While some polling has suggested that Texans are interested in allowing casinos in the state, those efforts have stalled in the Texas Legislature..

Huffman "Honored" to Receive Support from Adelson

Huffman defended the support he received from the Adelson family, framing the donations as a sign of his strong conservative backing.  

“[The Adelson Family is] one of the very largest donors in Republican history – over nine figures, over $100 million to President Trump and millions of dollars to conservative leaders like [Texas Governor] Greg Abbott, Lieutenant Governor Patrick, and [Senator] Ted Cruz,” Huffman said. “And I’m honored to be on that list.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Huffman has also said that he wants Texas voters to decide whether they’d like destination casino resorts allowed in the state via a change to the state constitution. In response to Huffman's support from the Adelson family, Wambsganss argued that a majority of Huffman's campaign was funded solely by one massive casino donor. 

“It’s his deflection to getting caught having over 94 percent of his campaign funds coming from one out-of-state gambling interest,” Wambsganss said. 

Huffman responded to this by acknowledging that Wambsganss’ husband once ran pull-tab machines in other states, making her criticisms "hypocritical."

Rehmet, Wambsganss Headed to Runoff for Senate Seat

In the end, it was Wambsganss who drew the biggest endorsements, including Governor Dan Patrick and President Donald Trump. After the election results came in on Tuesday night, she declared victory – at least in the battle for the Republican mantle in the race.

“This is a Texas victory, and it’s a victory for the grassroots,” Wambsganss said. “And it’s a message to out of state interests that think they can buy Texas that Texas is not for sale.”

But it was Rehmet who nearly came away as the outright winner on a night where Democrats outperformed expectations across the United States. That’s despite the fact that Texas Senate District 9, which spans most of northern Tarrant County, was designed to be a safe Republican stronghold. 

Rehmet, who leads local and state branches of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union, says he’s looking forward to what should be a competitive runoff. 

“This is just one step closer to fighting for working Texans, which would be my ultimate privilege and honor to be able to do,” Rehmet said after the results came in.

Las Vegas Sands has found it difficult to get support for casino gambling in Texas. The Irving Planning and Zoning Commission approved redistricting land for a Las Vegas Sands casino and sports arena in the city earlier this year, though it’s unclear if Adelson would consider moving the Mavericks to Irving if casino gambling isn’t legalized in the state.