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Attorney General (AG) Ken Paxton secured the Republican nomination in his reelection bid on Tuesday (May 24), but the thrill of victory took a backseat to a more important and tragic matter, per a report from Austin NBC affiliate KXAN.
More than a dozen students and two teachers at Uvalde's Robb Elementary School lost their lives in a mass shooting that took place as Texans were casting their ballots in the party primaries.
The alleged shooter, an 18-year-old Uvalde resident named Salvador Ramos, also died, fatally shot by police who responded to the scene.
KXAN reported that unofficial election results show that Paxton secured nearly 70% of the GOP vote to defeat current Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush.
Bush is the son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and grandson of the late President George H.W. Bush.
Paxton and Bush were the top two vote-getters in March's four-way race.
Paxton somberly began his victory speech close to 9 p.m., according to KXAN.
“I’m not going to forget these people even as we’re here celebrating a victory. I want you to remember them in your prayers and, you know — we’re Texans first," the incumbent AG said, the station reported. "Elections — and elections, and we go fight it out in America, we argue for our ideas but in the end, it doesn’t matter whether these people are Republican or Democrat, they’re fellow Texans and fellow Americans. We love them and we’re going to pray for them.”
Bush issued a statement following his defeat, the shooting also weighing heavily on the primary runner-up's mind, Austin ABC affiliate KVUE reported.
“Things didn’t go as we planned," he said in the statement. "But after the tragic events of earlier today, it’s important to keep life’s temporary disappointments in perspective. There are grieving parents in South Texas today. My family and I are grieving with them."
Paxton's quest for another term will be challenged in November by Rochelle Garza, the presumptive winner of the Democratic primary for AG.