TX-21: Rep. Lamar Smith was yet another one of several longtime Texas GOP congressmen who decided to retire this year. Smith's seat, which stretches from Austin to San Antonio and takes up part of the Texas Hill Country, went from 60-38 Romney to a smaller 52-42 spread for Trump, and it could be a good Democratic target in a strong year.
Several Republicans entered the race to succeed Smith. The best-known candidate to readers of the Digest is probably ex-Rep. Francisco "Quico" Canseco, who won the competitive neighboring 23rd District in the 2010 GOP wave. However, Canseco lost re-election two years later 50-46 to Democrat Pete Gallego even as Mitt Romney was carrying his 23rd District 51-48. Canseco wanted a rematch in 2014, but he lost the primary to Will Hurd 59-41, and Hurd continues to hold the 23rd. Donors didn't give Canseco much help in his last campaign, and we'll see if he does better this time.
A plethora of other Republicans are in, and some may have better connections than Canseco. Chip Roy, a state GOP political veteran and a former chief of staff to Sen. Ted Cruz, has his old boss' support. Businessman Robert Stovall resigned as chair of the Bexar County GOP to run here, and he narrowly lost a 2012 general election for county tax assessor-collector. State Rep. Jason Isaac is the only current elected official in the race. Communications firm chief Jenifer Sarver; retired CIA officer Eric Burkhart; and attorney Ivan Andarza, who has served in various party and state-appointed roles; and several other Republicans are also in, but they've all attracted less attention.
We also unexpectedly have a primary poll here, though it doesn't tell us too much. On behalf of a super PAC founded by Travis County GOP chair Matt Mackowiak, Cygnal released a survey just before the filing deadline. They gave Canseco the lead with 22 percent of the vote, even though he only represented about 2 percent of this seat when he was in the House five years ago. They had ex-state Rep. Harvey Hilderbran in second with 14 percent, but Hilderbran didn't end up running here. In third was perennial candidate Matt McCall with 11, who is running once again.
On the Democratic side, businessman Joseph Kopser, who earned a Bronze Star in Iraq, had $219,000 in the bank at the end of September before Smith announced he would retire, far more than any of his primary rivals. Several other Democrats are running here, and we'll see if Smith's departure has helped any of them fundraise.