U.S. District 3 Rep. Van Taylor announced he will concede his bid for re-election to his runoff opponent, Keith Self, after admitting to a nine-month extramarital affair.
The two-term Republican made the announcement Wednesday, March 2.
“About a year ago, I made a horrible mistake that has caused deep hurt and pain among those I love most in this world,” Taylor wrote in an email to supporters. “I had an affair, it was wrong, and it was the greatest failure of my life.”
He finished Tuesday’s primary race with 49% of the vote and Self, a former Collin County judge, had 27% of the vote.
The day before the primary, Breitbart News published a story alleging Taylor paid a Plano woman, Tania Joya, a former jihadist, $5,000 to stay quiet about the affair. Joya was once married to an American, who converted to Islam and became a leader in the Islamic State (ISIS).
According to Texas election laws, Taylor has until March 16 to submit his intent to withdraw from the race in writing to the state Republican Party chair.
Self will then become the Republican nominee for the district and he will face Democratic nominee Sandeep Srivastava in November.
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