State Senate District 5 voters will go to the polls in November to choose between incumbent Republican Sen. Charles Schwertner and Democrat Paul Thomasson. 

Schwertner earned 74.7% of the vote to defeat Vietnam veteran and businessman Larry Nance and U.S. Marine Corps veteran Apollo Hernandez. Thomasson won the Democratic primary, receiving 51.3% of the vote to narrowly defeat Kevin Nelson. 

 Schwertner has held office since 2013 and served as state representative for District 20 from 2011-2013. In the 2022 election, Schwertner defeated Tommy Estes with 71.6% of the votes.  

Schwertner has been endorsed by President Donald Trump and Gov. Greg Abbott. 

Nance focused his campaign on property taxes, specifically for seniors. Hernandez’s top priorities were to secure the border, strengthen public schools, stabilize property tax, and stop DEI and woke politics. 

As for the Democratic candidates, Thomasson, a longtime Methodist pastor, ran his campaign on a clear path: “to keep the poor from getting poorer, while the rich are getting richer,” according to his campaign website. Thomasson views the affordability of living in Texas as a major problem and is determined to fix that. 

Kevin Nelson, the other Democratic candidate in the State Senate primaries, ran on anti-ICE and pro-choice platforms.