SAN ANTONIO - Former Congressman Ciro Rodriguez defeated seven-term Republican Henry Bonilla in a runoff election Tuesday, adding another Democrat to Congress.
With nearly all precincts reporting in the state's largest district, Rodriguez had 54 percent to Bonilla's 45 percent.
Bonilla has called Rodriguez to concede, the incumbent's spokesman Phil Ricks said.
They were the top vote-getters in a special election held Nov. 7, but neither got 50 percent, prompting the runoff.
"I thought it would be, in all honesty, would be a lot closer than it was in the end," Rodriguez said at his campaign party. "I can assure you I'm going to be reaching out and working with everyone. When you get elected, you represent everyone in the district."
Bonilla was seeking an eighth term in Washington, while Rodriguez was hoping to return after a two-year absence. He served from 1997-2005 in another district but was ousted in the March 2004 Democratic primary by Henry Cuellar, a Laredo Democrat. Rodriguez lost again to Cuellar in this year's primary.
The Supreme Court ruled in June that a 2003 reconfiguration of Bonilla's district was unconstitutional because it diluted minority votes, and a three-judge panel redrew the district in August to restore Hispanics that had been shunted into another district.
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