TX-SEN
Our candidate: Congressman Beto O’Rourke currently represents Texas’ 16th congressional district, which includes El Paso, and he is challenging Senator Ted Cruz in 2018. Although Texas has not elected a Democrat to statewide office 1994, O’Rourke is mounting a credible challenge to Sen. Cruz. In the first quarter of 2018, he reported raising $6.7 million and recent polling has shown that he is within striking distance of Cruz, trailing him by only 3 points.
TX-16
The district: With Rep. Beto O’Rourke seeking election to the Senate, there will be an open seat contest for this El Paso based seat in 2018. Veronica Escobar secured the Democratic nomination by winning 61% of the vote in the March primary, and she will face Republican Rick Seeberger in November. In the 2016 presidential election, Clinton carried the district with 68% of the vote, and the Cook Political Report lists the district as solid Democratic.
Our Candidate: Veronica Escobar is the Democratic nominee for Texas’s 16th congressional district. She served two terms as El Paso County Judge and one term as County Commissioner. If elected, she will be the first Latina to represent Texas in Congress.
TX-21
The district: Texas’s 21st congressional district (TX-21) is located in the central portion of the state. It has been represented by Republican Rep. Lamar Smith, who is not seeking reelection this cycle, since 1986. Joseph Kopser secured the Democratic nomination in the May 22nd runoff, after finishing in second place in the March primary. He will face Republican nominee Chip Roy in November. The district has a PVI of R+10.
Our candidate: Joseph Kopser is an army veteran who spent several years deployed in Iraq. He is a graduate of West Point Academy and worked at the Pentagon for two years. Since his retirement from the army, he has worked in private industry. His company RideScout, which helped commuters find effective transportation solutions, won Kopser the White House Champion of Change Award in 2014.
TX-23
The district: Texas’s 23rd congressional district (TX-23) stretches across a large swath of southwestern Texas from western San Antonio to eastern El Paso and includes the largest stretch of the US-Mexico border of any congressional district. It is an Hispanic-majority district and has been represented by Republican Rep. Will Hurd since 2015, when he unseated one-term Democrat Pete Gallego. Rep. Hurd most recently won a close reelection battle by less than 1.5 points in 2016 when he held off a challenge from former Rep. Gallego.
Our candidate: Gina Ortiz Jones is the Democratic nominee in Texas’s 23rd congressional district. Ortiz Jones served for 12 years in the Air Force as an intelligence officer under the U.S. military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. In the last months of her service, she worked as a Senior Advisor for Trade Enforcement under President Obama and later served in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative as a Director for Investment.
TX-31
The district: Although this district voted heavily for President Trump in the 2016 election, incumbent Rep. John Carter hasn’t faced a serious challenge in his 8 terms in Congress, indicating that he could be vulnerable to a strong challenger. A July poll found a 9-point lead for Rep. Carter, but a late September poll showed a much closer race with Carter at 46% and Hegar at 42%.
Our Candidate: MJ Hegar is the Democratic nominee running in Texas’ 31st Congressional District (TX-31). Hegar put this race in play with a viral ad in June 2018 that highlighted her military service and legal fight against the Pentagon’s discriminatory policies regarding women in combat roles.