A candidate running for Texas House District 68 suffered a personal tragedy over the weekend.

It was first announced on Dec. 28th, 2020, that Governor Greg Abbott had called for a special election to fill the seat for Texas House District 68, which was left vacant by Drew Springer, who now represents District 30 as a Texas Senator.

Four Republicans and one Democrat opted to run in the special election. On the Republican side, there was John Berry, a financial planner; Jason Brinkley, a Cooke County judge; David Spiller, an attorney and school board trustee; and Craig Carter, a former candidate for Texas Senate District 30.

The lone Democrat in the race was Charles D. Gregory, a retired postal worker.

The special election was held January 23rd. Of the 9,139 votes that were cast, Spiller received the most at 43.9 percent, which is below the 50 percent threshold required to avoid a runoff election. Spiller is now running against Craig Carter, who received 18.1 percent of the vote.

However, on Monday, Feb. 1st, Carter revealed in a Facebook post that his mother-in-law, daughter and son were involved in a deadly car accident on Sunday, Jan. 31st.

Carter says that the accident took the life of their 4-year-old daughter Lux and his mother-in-law Rose. His son Rex is also in the hospital with serious injuries. It’s unclear if and how this personal tragedy will affect Carter's candidacy for House District 68.

Carter’s opponent, Spiller, posted his condolences on Facebook shortly after the news broke.


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