Martha Gene Hat Bar, a hat boutique offering customized and branded cowgirl and wide brim hats, will celebrate its grand opening in Pearland at the end of May.

The details: Martha Gene Hat Bar, which has another location in Spring, will offer hat customizations with carefully curated selection of hats, charms, jewels, feathers, ribbons and scarves, according to the business' website.

What else: The grand opening party will take place from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., according to the boutique's Facebook. Guests who make the first 15 purchases will receive a free gift and all guests can get 15% off a second piece of permanent jewelry with the purchase of a permanent jewelry.

📍1200 Broadway St., Ste. 910, Pearland

Three years after Bed Bath & Beyond filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and closed its brick-and-mortar locations, the home goods retailer is reopening in spaces operated by The Container Store at 98 locations across the U.S., including four in Houston.

How we got here: On May 16, The Container Store and Bed Bath & Beyond announced the opening of their first co-branded retail location in Fort Worth, with the plan to open dozens of merged locations across the U.S., according to a news release from the retailer. 

The details: The merged store layouts will allow customers to shop by room, integrating assortments from both retailers, according to the release.

Looking ahead: Over time, the company expects to operate more than 300 stores across multiple formats, including co-branded stores, neighborhood formats, Bed Bath & Beyond Seasonal Living, and buybuy BABY locations, according to the release.

Early voting results are in for four key runoff elections for United States House of Representatives races.

Some background: Selected races include only contested U.S. House seats that fall within Community Impact’s Houston coverage zone and that were sent to a runoff election after the March primaries, which include Districts 7, 14, 18 and 38.

For District 7, Republican candidates Alexander Hale and Tina Cohen were sent to the runoff after neither candidate received more than 50% of the vote in the March 3 primaries. Other Republican candidates facing off for a place on the November ballot include Jon Bonck and Shelly Dezevallos for District 38.

On the other hand, Democratic candidates for U.S. House District 18, Christian Menefee and Al Green, were sent to face each other in the runoff election after the March primary votes were split, as well as Richard Davis and Thurman Bill Bartie squaring off for District 14.

All results are unofficial until canvassed.

Approximately 165,548 Harris County residents cast early ballots in the May 26 primary runoff elections, less than half of the early turnout for the primaries in March, results from the Harris County Clerk’s Office show.

The overview: In total, 95,602 Republican voters and 69,946 Democratic voters cast ballots in person or by mail during the five-day early voting period from May 18-22, according to the unofficial results.

More details: In comparison, nearly 347,000 Harris County residents voted early during the 10-day period for the March 3 primary election, Community Impact previously reported. While more Democrats voted early in March, Republican turnout accounted for the majority of early runoff ballots.

Some context: Runoff elections are required in races where no candidate received at least 50% of votes in March. A lengthy list of primary races went to a runoff March 3, including both the Democratic and Republican races for Harris County judge, Texas attorney general, and several state and U.S. representatives, among others.

For the first time in more than a decade, there is no incumbent in the Texas attorney general's race as Ken Paxton runs for the U.S. Senate. Voters across Texas made their picks for attorney general in the May 26 runoff election, with the winning candidate from each political party moving on to the November election.

The context: The Republican and Democratic attorney general races are among several statewide contests that advanced to May runoffs after no candidate received more than 50% of the vote in the March 3 primary election.

The attorney general serves as Texas' top lawyer and law enforcement officer.

About the candidates: On the right, state Sen. Mayes Middleton of Galveston and U.S. Rep. Chip Roy of Austin are each seeking the Republican nomination for the seat.

On the left, state Sen. Nathan Johnson of Dallas and former Galveston Mayor Joe Jaworski are vying for the Democratic nomination.

Keep reading to see the results in the two attorney general races and find other runoff results at communityimpact.com/voter-guide.

In the May 26 runoff election, Republican voters across Texas cast their votes in a contentious U.S. Senate race between incumbent Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

The context: The Republican race for U.S. Senate is one of several statewide contests that advanced to May runoffs after no candidate received more than 50% of the vote in the March 3 primary election.

About the candidates: Cornyn, an incumbent senator with nearly 24 years in office, is seeking to hold his seat for another six years while being challenged by Paxton, the once-impeached state attorney general who was recently endorsed by President Donald Trump. Read each candidate's priorities in their own words here.  

The winning Republican candidate will face the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, state Rep. James Talarico of Austin, in November.
 
Keep reading to see the results in the Cornyn-Paxton race and find other runoff results at communityimpact.com/voter-guide.