HOUSTON – Republican Congressman Pete Olson was re-elected for the U.S. House District 22 seat after defeating Democrat Sri Kulkarni
Thousands of dollars flowed into the race for Congressional District 22.
This is a seat Olson has held for a decade.
“Probably the biggest challenge is getting to the people who aren't being spoken to, by anybody, Democrat or Republican,” said Democratic candidate Sri Kulkarni.
This is the first time Kulkarni ran for office. For 14 years, he served as a U.S. foreign service officer and then as a foreign policy and defense advisor on Capitol Hill.
Pictures posted to his campaign's social media accounts showed Olson meeting with voters in the final hours of the election. The retired naval aviator had easily won his last four elections in a district that remains largely Republican. Olson’s campaign was unable to provide KPRC with his day's itinerary or a time to meet with the congressman ahead of the polls closing.
The candidates had been neck-and-neck in fundraising over the last year. Campaign filings show Olson raised $1.4 million to Kulkarni's $1.1 million. Just in the last week, more than $11,000 was donated to Olson's campaign, with Kulkarni's campaign taking in nearly $44,000.