Last time I ran this series, I started with West Texas because even though it covered a huge swath of territory, it had the fewest districts. That’s still the case, but it also is worth noting because it has the most contested seat in the Texas congressional delegation: CD-23.
CD-23
This huge but sparsely populated district has flipped so many times it’s hard to remember where it is currently. It was first drawn in 1967 and was held by Democrats until 1993. Henry Bonilla was the first Republican to have the seat (1993 to 2007). Then the flipping begins.
Democrat Ciro Rodriguez held the seat for 2 terms. Then Quico Canseco (R) served one term. Democrat Pete Gallego served one term before being defeated in 2014. That election was 49.8% for Will Hurd (R), 47.7% Pete Gallego, and 2.5% for the Libertarian.
Pete Gallego is running again, and this seat is the most closely-watched and hotly-contested congressional district in the state. It’s an imminently winnable race, and I’m so very glad that Pete is back in the game.
UPDATE: Pete now faces a primary challenge from Lee Keenen. What I’m able to see is that he’s under 40, and has almost NO voting history. This is one of the more irritating parts of being a “big tent” party. Not gonna tell the guy “No” but I really wish he had decided not to run.
CD-11
Held by Mike Conaway since 2005, this district encompasses the cities of Midland, Odessa, San Angelo, Brownwood, and Sweetwater.
In 2012, Democrat Jim Riley challenged Conaway, and lost with only 18.6% (the Libertarian candidate garnered 2.8%). In 2014, he had no Democratic opposition. Still waiting to see if anybody steps up to take a chance on the race.
CD-16
El Paso is the hub of Congressional District 16, and is represented by Beto O’Rourke. He served on the El Paso City Council before running for Congress in 2012, and has been there ever since. Only one Republican has ever held CD-16, and that was for one term in 1963. Pretty sure this one is going to stay in the D column, but I try not to get complacent.
The filing deadline for all of the races in Texas is December 14th. It’s two weeks away, but I wanted to get started on this series again before I get sidetracked by holiday planning.
UPDATE: Ben Mendoza has filed in the Democratic Primary against Beto. He has a long history of filing late, has bounced one of the checks for his filing fee, and seems to be the type to run for anything that looks interesting. I’m betting on Beto.
- 1980: State Rep (lost)
- 2006: Congress (bounced check, so not placed on ballot)
- 2008: Congress (lost)
- 2010: El Paso County Commissioner, Precinct 2 (lost)
If you’re in any of these districts and hear of anything I’ve missed (a Republican challenger, a Democratic contender, or any primary squabbles), please chime in. I’m just one person in Central Texas who happens to be a bit of a down-ballot junkie.
I’ll update this diary if anything new comes up. The main thing to keep in mind is that no matter what happens, WE MUST ALL VOTE in November 2016! Don’t give up on Texas, folks. We can go blue, if we can just get everybody to the polls.