Changes

Taylor finished with the most votes, but only obtained 49% of the votes cast and therefore was set to face Self (the second-place finisher with 26% of votes cast) in a runoff election scheduled for May 24, 2022.<ref>In Texas, in primary elections a candidate must gain a majority of votes cast to avoid a runoff; otherwise, the top two candidates face off in a runoff election.  Runoffs are not used in the general election; only a plurality of votes is required to win.</ref>  Harp would finish third with 21% of votes cast, just over 3,600 votes behind Self, while Williams and Ivanovskis would be also-rans, garnering between them just over 2,500 votes and 4% of the total votes cast.

Taylor finished with the most votes, but only obtained 49% of the votes cast and therefore was set to face Self (the second-place finisher with 26% of votes cast) in a runoff election scheduled for May 24, 2022.<ref>In Texas, in primary elections a candidate must gain a majority of votes cast to avoid a runoff; otherwise, the top two candidates face off in a runoff election.  Runoffs are not used in the general election; only a plurality of votes is required to win.</ref>  Harp would finish third with 21% of votes cast, just over 3,600 votes behind Self, while Williams and Ivanovskis would be also-rans, garnering between them just over 2,500 votes and 4% of the total votes cast.

However, on the Thursday prior to the election, Harp was contacted by Tania Joya, a British native and Plano resident, asking her to confront Taylor regarding an affair the two had, hoping Harp would convince Taylor to drop out of the race and resign his Congressional seat.  Joya was already well-known in the British tabloids due to her late husband's actions: he (John Georgelas) had converted to Islam and in 2013 had taken Joya and their then three children to Northern Syria, where he (now going by the name Yahya Abu Hassan) actively fought on behalf of the terrorist group ISIS against the Americans; she had been dubbed "ISIS Bride" as a result.  (Joya, who at the time was pregnant with the couple's fourth child, and the children escaped to Turkey three weeks after their arrival; the husband was killed in 2017.)  Instead, Harp contacted a reporter who interviewed Joya for 35 minutes; the interview appeared on the right-wing website National File that Sunday afternoon, and the following day on the more noted Breitbart site.<ref>[https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/02/28/exclusive-isis-bride-says-texas-congressman-van-taylor-paid-her-to-keep-quiet-about-affair/]</ref>  Taylor would suspend his campaign the day after the primary election.  (However, Taylor has not officially withdrawn from the race; only if he withdraws prior to 5PM local time on March 16 will the runoff election be cancelled, and Self declared the winner.) Self later called Taylor's decision "appropriate" due to the high standards to which conservative candidates are held.

However, on the Thursday prior to the election, Harp was contacted by Tania Joya, a British native and Plano resident, asking her to confront Taylor regarding an affair the two had, hoping Harp would convince Taylor to drop out of the race and resign his Congressional seat.  Joya was already well-known in the British tabloids due to her late husband's actions: he (John Georgelas) had converted to Islam and in 2013 had taken Joya and their then three children to Northern Syria, where he (now going by the name Yahya Abu Hassan) actively fought on behalf of the terrorist group ISIS against the Americans; she had been dubbed "ISIS Bride" as a result.  (Joya, who at the time was pregnant with the couple's fourth child, and the children escaped to Turkey three weeks after their arrival; the husband was killed in 2017.)  Instead, Harp contacted a reporter who interviewed Joya for 35 minutes; the interview appeared on the right-wing website National File that Sunday afternoon, and the following day on the more noted Breitbart site.<ref>[https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/02/28/exclusive-isis-bride-says-texas-congressman-van-taylor-paid-her-to-keep-quiet-about-affair/]</ref>  Taylor would suspend his campaign the day after the primary election and apologized for his actions, but had not officially withdrawn; the Texas GOP later confirmed his official withdrawal, making Self the GOP nominee in a heavily GOP district.  Self later called Taylor's decision "appropriate" due to the high standards to which conservative candidates are held.

==References==

==References==