Certified results ended Matt Smith’s recount deliberations before Tom Sell won the Republican nomination with more than 64% of the vote.

LUBBOCK, Texas — Tom Sell’s emphasis on agricultural policy experience and relationships across West Texas ultimately prevailed over Abraham Enriquez’s populist, pro-Trump campaign in the Republican race for Texas’ 19th Congressional District.

Sell defeated Enriquez in the May 26 primary runoff, receiving 32,239 votes to Enriquez’s 17,932. That amounted to approximately 64.3% for Sell and 35.7% for Enriquez, according to Texas Secretary of State election results.

Sell will face Democratic nominee Kyle Rable in the Nov. 3 general election. The race is for the seat being vacated by Republican Rep. Jodey Arrington, who announced in November that he would not seek another term.

The result completed a contest that began with seven Republican candidates and briefly included uncertainty over who had qualified for the runoff.

Smith finishes 193 votes behind Enriquez

Sell led the March 3 primary with 31,388 votes, or 40.42%. Enriquez finished second with 14,568 votes, or 18.76%, while Abilene roofer Matt Smith received 14,375 votes, or 18.51%.

The difference between Enriquez and Smith was only 193 votes out of more than 77,000 cast.

Smith initially declined to concede while election officials processed remaining mail and provisional ballots. He also said he was evaluating his legal options, including a possible recount, according to the original Lubbock Lights report.

Texas law allows qualifying candidates to request recounts under specific conditions and requires expedited requests in multicandidate races that could produce a runoff. The Secretary of State’s 2026 recount guidance set a March 16 deadline for such a request following the local canvass.

Whatever options Smith considered, the certified outcome did not change. The final canvass placed Enriquez 193 votes ahead, and state officials certified Sell and Enriquez for the runoff, according to the published certified results.

Two different paths to Republican voters

Sell and Enriquez presented voters with contrasting résumés and campaign styles, even as both promoted conservative positions on immigration, energy, spending and social issues.

Sell campaigned as an experienced policy advocate who could begin working immediately on issues important to rural West Texas. He previously worked for former District 19 Rep. Larry Combest and served as deputy staff director of the House Agriculture Committee while Congress developed the 2002 Farm Bill.

He later co-founded Combest, Sell & Associates, an agriculture-focused consulting and lobbying firm.

Sell emphasized that background, along with his relationships with farmers, commodity organizations and community leaders across the district’s 33 counties. He led the March primary in 32 counties, while Smith carried his home county of Taylor.

Agricultural organizations supporting Sell argued that his familiarity with farm policy would be especially valuable while producers confront low commodity prices, expensive supplies and recurring drought. Sell said he wanted to pursue a seat on the House Agriculture Committee and advocate for rural health care, infrastructure and improved trade conditions, according to Texas Tribune reporting on the primary.

Enriquez, by comparison, presented himself as a younger movement conservative whose strength came from personal outreach rather than an established Washington résumé.

The founder of Bienvenido, an organization working to increase Hispanic participation in conservative politics, Enriquez focused his primary campaign on churches, small businesses, younger residents and minority voters. He frequently invoked his grandparents’ work as West Texas farm laborers and described his congressional campaign as evidence that the American dream remained possible.

Enriquez also placed greater emphasis on his support for President Donald Trump. During the runoff, he portrayed Sell as too closely connected to the Republican establishment and labeled him a “Republican in name only.” Sell rejected that description and argued that his record demonstrated both conservative principles and an ability to produce results.

Enriquez told KCBD after the primary that personal contact with voters could overcome a financial disadvantage in advertising and campaign mail.

The runoff also divided prominent Republican endorsements. Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick supported Enriquez, while Sell received backing from agricultural groups and congressional Republicans. Trump did not endorse either candidate, according to the Texas Tribune’s runoff report.

Sell advances to November

The runoff showed that Enriquez could assemble a place in the final two despite being heavily outspent and narrowly surviving the primary. It also demonstrated the limits of that coalition against Sell’s broader geographic organization and policy-focused campaign.

Sell increased his share from about 40% in March to more than 64% in the runoff. KTTZ reported that he won the nomination districtwide after campaigning on his business and agricultural-policy experience.

He now faces Rable, a U.S. Army Reserve captain and Texas Tech University doctoral candidate, in the Nov. 3 election. The Cook Political Report rates District 19 “Solid Republican”, giving Sell a substantial advantage but leaving voters to make the final decision in November.