Republicans Susan Wright and state Rep. Jake Ellzey will advance to a runoff in the special election to fill a North Texas congressional seat, NBC News projects — locking Democrats out in the first hotly contested special election of President Joe Biden’s term.

Wright, the widow of Rep. Ron Wright, R-Texas, and a longtime activist in local GOP politics, emerged from the 23-person field as one of the top two candidates to represent the 6th Congressional District, winning more than 19 percent of the vote.

She was first to advance to the runoff. Ellzey advanced after the third-place candidate, Jana Lynne Sanchez, the leading Democrat, conceded Sunday morning. A runoff will take place because none of the candidates met the 50 percent threshold required to win outright. Read more from. NBC News.