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Texas Legislature 2019

Special election runoff to replace Carol Alvarado in Texas House to be held March 5

Voters will decide the successor to former state Rep. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston, who was elected to the Texas Senate in December.

by Patrick Svitek

Melissa Noriega and Christina Morales. Jan 29, 2019.
Melissa Noriega, left, and Christina Morales. Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr. / The Texas Tribune

The special election runoff for House District 145 will take place March 5, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Tuesday.

The contest will determine the successor to former state Rep. Carol Alvarado, who won a state Senate special election in December.

Last month, Democrats Christina Morales and Melissa Noriega came out on top in an eight-person field for HD-145, getting 36 percent and 31 percent of the vote, respectively. Morales is the president and CEO of her family's funeral home in Houston's East End, and Noriega is a former city council member. She temporarily represented HD-145 in 2005 while Rick Noriega, the incumbent and her husband at the time, served overseas in the military.

The special election runoff will follow another contest to fill a vacant seat in the House. There is a special election Tuesday to replace former state Rep. Justin Rodriguez, D-San Antonio, now a Bexar County commissioner.

Early voting for the HD-145 special election runoff starts Feb. 25.

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Patrick Svitek’s staff photo

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