Jake Ellzey Beats Trump-Endorsed Susan Wright For Texas U.S. House Seat

Former U.S. Navy fighter pilot Jake Ellzey (R) has won the Texas Sixth Congressional seat. Ellzey’s opponent, Susan Wright (R), was endorsed by Donald Trump. Ellzey was able to out-fundraise Wright by almost two-to-one and even won the support of Texas Republicans with close relationships to Trump.

On the topic of endorsements, Ellzey said, “She has great endorsements. I had great endorsements that I’m very proud of but at the end of the day, the candidates had to get out and run their own campaigns.”

This win is significant as it signals the decreasing influence of Trump over the Republican party, especially as he continues to tour the country endorsing candidates for the 2022 midterms.

Wright took to Twitter to congratulate her opponent.

Trump only narrowly won the Texas Fourth District in 2020 but continues to poll well there. While both candidates supported very similar conservative platforms, it seems Ellzey’s political alliances helped him gain the seat. The district houses around 800,000 residents.

This is Ellzey’s second time running. He lost in 2018 to Wright’s husband, Ron Wright, who died in February 2021 from COVID-19 complications while suffering from cancer.