EL PASO, Texas (AP) — In a major upset, longtime U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes has lost the race for the Democratic nomination to retain his congressional seat in far West Texas.
Reyes lost narrowly to former El Paso city councilman Beto O'Rourke. Reyes appeared to be closing the gap as more votes were tallied, but O'Rourke finished with just more than 50 percent of the vote to avoid a runoff with all precincts reporting.
The 67-year-old Reyes was first elected to Congress in 1996. Reyes received a rare primary endorsement last month from President Barack Obama. The 39-year-old O'Rourke is an El Paso native who says he favors legalizing marijuana but wouldn't push for that in Congress.
Five Democrats were running for the nomination.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.