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With primary elections completed on March 1, the May 24 runoff is next for intraparty competitors who fell short of a simple majority. In those races, the top two vote-getters face off for a spot on the November general election ballot. Read on for more on selected runoff races.

At the top of the ticket, Gov. Greg Abbott avoided a runoff, besting his nearest competitor by over one million votes to face former El Paso Congressman Beto O’Rourke in November. Not all potential statewide elected officials can yet look to November though. Embattled Attorney General Ken Paxton faces outgoing Land Commissioner George P. Bush in his bid for a third term. In the race to succeed Bush as land commissioner, Sen. Dawn Buckingham (R-Lakeway) squares off against pastor Tim Westley of Selma. Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian faces oil and gas attorney Sarah Stogner of Monahans.

Three senate incumbents drew primary opponents, but all earned a majority of votes and have secured a place in the November general election.

Many house incumbents faced fellow Democrats or Republicans in their bid for reelection, and just four will need to survive a runoff to earn a spot on the November ballot:

• Rep. Stephanie Klick (R-Fort Worth) vs. party activist David Lowe of North Richland Hills.
• Rep. Glenn Rogers (R-Graford) vs. conservative activist Mike Olcott of Parker County.
• Rep. Kyle Kacal (R-College Station) vs. business owner Ben Bius of Hunstville.
• Rep. Phil Stephenson (R-Wharton) vs. Waller County Commissioner Stan Kitzman.

With most political districts favoring one party over another, the primary election is often as far as one need look to see who will next represent a district. Despite this outsize influence, voter turnout for primary elections remains stubbornly low in Texas. Almost 3 million Texans, about 17.5% of those registered to vote, participated in this year's primary. That is up a bit from the 17.2% who voted four years ago in the last midterm election. Historically, turnout is even lower in runoff elections.

Key dates:

• April 25: deadline to register to vote
• May 13: application for ballot by mail must be received (not sent)
• May 16: early voting opens
• May 20: early voting closes
• May 24: runoff election day

Full primary election results are available on the Secretary of State's website.

For more information about this article, please contact Pete Winckler.