SAN ANTONIO — Democrat Ray Lopez, who narrowly edged a Democratic challenger to reach a runoff election, won a seat in the Texas House of Representatives on Tuesday night.
Lopez, a former San Antonio city councilman, won the race for the open District 125 seat by garnering 58.42 percent of the vote, while Republican Fred A. Rangel had 41.58 percent of the vote.
Lopez and Rangel were the top two vote-getters in the first round of voting Feb. 12.
The district is on San Antonio’s northwest side and covers much of the Bandera Road corridor. The seat opened up because former state Rep. Justin Rodriguez (D) resigned to accept an appointment to the Bexar County Commissioners Court after Precinct 2 Commissioner Paul Elizondo died in December.
In the first round of voting Feb. 12, Rangel had 37.96 percent of the vote as the only Republican in the race. Lopez had to hold off a tight challenge from Democrat Coda Rayo-Garza, who was just 22 votes behind him in third place. Lopez had 19.41 percent, while Rayo-Garza was third at 19.05 percent.
The Texas Legislature is currently in session, so Lopez is expected to take office promptly to represent San Antonio's northwest side.