Seven Democratic congressional races heading to Texas runoff

Seven Democratic congressional races are heading to a May 24 runoff election in Texas after no single candidate received 50% of the vote in the March 1 primary election, according to election results published by the State Secretary of State’s Office. Several districts saw major shakeups due to the 2020 redistricting process, incumbents retiring or running for another office, among other factors, which prompted multiple candidates to run for office.

Two races may flip Republican in November – one is in a newly created district in a Republican area; two are in districts whose incumbent Republican representatives are unlikely to lose in November.

The most watched and controversial race was that of incumbent Congressman Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, who received just shy of the 50% needed to avoid a runoff election. Seven Republicans ran in the Republican primary, hoping to flip the district red.

In Congressional District 1 in northeast Texas, long held by conservative stalwart Louie Gohmert, who ran for Texas attorney general and lost, four Democrats ran. Business executive and Bernie Sanders delegate Jrmar “JJ” Jefferson and business owner Victor Dunn received the most votes. Whoever wins the runoff, will face Republican Smith County Judge Nathaniel Moran in November.

As a result of redistricting, Congressional District 15’s lines were redrawn to include more of western Hidalgo County, and its Democratic congressman, Vicente Gonzalez Jr., ran for reelection in the 34th Congressional District. District 15 stretches from Reynosa in the Rio Grande Valley north to near New Braunsfels.

Trial attorney and Army veteran Ruben Ramirez and former congressional aide to U.S. Rep. Ruben Hinojosa, Michelle Vallejo advanced to the runoff. Vallejo appears defeated third-place contender John Villarreal Rigney by about a percentage point. This is Ramirez’s third time running for Congress in the 15th District.

Whoever wins in May will run against Republican Monica De La Cruz Hernandez, who’s been endorsed by former President Donald Trump. If Hernandez wins, the seat will flip from blue to red in November.

In Congressional District 21, two Democrats – Claudia Andreana Zapata, a former legislative aid, and doctor and Army veteran Ricardo Villarreal – are hoping to unseat incumbent conservative stalwart Republican Congressman Chip Roy, who’s running for re-election. The district, which includes Fredericksburg and surrounding areas, is unlikely to flip blue in November.

In Congressional District 24, CPA Jan McDowell and U.S. Marine Corps veteran and attorney Derrik Gay are hoping to unseat incumbent Republican Congresswoman Beth Van Duyne who’s running for re-election.

In Congressional District 28, which includes the border town of Laredo and has been long represented by incumbent Henry Cuellar, Cuellar fell short of avoiding a runoff, receiving 48.43% of the vote. Cuellar has been a critic of the Biden administration’s open border policies, speaking out about how illegal immigration is negatively impacting his district. He’s also called on the Biden administration to restore health-care funding it halted in Texas. After doing so, his home and office were raided by the FBI in January.

His top challenger, human rights attorney Jessica Cisneros, received 46.86%. A daughter of Mexican immigrants, she argues Cuellar isn’t progressive enough.

Whoever wins will face the winner of the Republican runoff election. Two women, Cassy Garcia, a former deputy state director for U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, and Sandra Whitten, the Republican nominee for the 28th District in 2020, received the most votes in a 7-candidate race. Garcia or Whitten are also hoping to flip this seat red.

In Congressional District 30, which encompasses southern Dallas, a seat opened up after Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson retired. Former state Rep. Jasmine Crockett received the most votes in a 9-candidate race, but 48.48% wasn’t enough to avoid a runoff. Jane Hope Hamilton, who served as a campaign manager for Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins, campaign manager and chief of staff for Congressman Marc Veasey, and primary director for the Biden campaign, received 16.98%.

Whoever wins will face the winner of a Republican runoff election, either James Harris or Dr. James Rodgers.

In the highly sought after new district created in the Houston area, Congressional District 38, which includes most of the Energy Corridor, Cypress, Tomball, and some Memorial Park neighborhoods, three Democrats and 10 Republicans ran.

The Democrats who received the most votes, Diana Martinez Alexander, a teacher, activist and community organizer, and Duncan Klussmann, clinical assistant professor at the University of Houston and former superintendent of schools in Spring Branch ISD, are heading to a runoff.

Whoever wins will face Republican Army veteran Wesley Hunt, who was endorsed by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Sen. Ted Cruz. He won 55% of the vote, beating out 9 other candidates in an overwhelmingly Republican area.