Political races have taken a backseat to the coronavirus pandemic, with Texas runoff elections now pushed back to July 14.

Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls says his day job keeps him so busy right now, his Republican runoff for congressional district 22 is an afterthought at this point.

“We're not having any campaign events and I'm not sending out any mailers during this time. That would be absolutely ridiculous,” says Nehls. “And how can a campaign have any fundraisers when the people here in the state and across the country are suffering so much right now?”

“The only thing I heard was when the governor postponed this until July, which is probably the right thing to do,” he added. “Whether it had been May or July, that's a decision he made and we're going to live with it and deal with it.”

Nehls says he's busy handing out hand sanitizer to Fort Bend County residents and keeping his deputies protected when they respond to calls during the pandemic. But he points out he's in a much better position politically than other runoff candidates.

“There were 15 of us in the race. I had 41 percent. Now I'm dealing with the second place contender who got 19. I feel I'm in a pretty good position right now.”

Meanwhile, the two Democrats challenging Sen. John Cornyn have moved their campaigns entirely online, while the Republican incumbent has said he was suspending all campaign-related activities.

Jesse Kelly

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