Smith County Judge Nathaniel Moran won Tuesday’s Republican primary to replace Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert in Texas.
He is nearly certain to win the general election for the seat in the heavily Republican district, which is east of Dallas and stretches to the state’s border with Arkansas and Louisiana.
Because he won more than 50% of the vote, he avoids having a primary runoff election like other candidates.
TEXAS DEMOCRATS RUN AWAY FROM BIDEN AS LEFT THREATENS CENTRISTS
Moran had the biggest cash advantage in the race, having raised more than half a million dollars for his bid and reporting $238,515 in cash on hand as of Feb. 9. Other candidates had less than $20,000 in their war chests as of the same date.
A point of controversy for Moran, the Texan reported, is that he issued a stay-at-home order at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic that lasted until April 30, 2020. He later, though, declined to enforce Gov. Greg Abbott’s statewide mask mandate.
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Other candidates in the race included hospital executive John Porro, oil and gas roughneck Aditya Atholi, and businessman Joe McDaniel.
