Joshua Cortez
Joshua Cortez (Republican Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Texas' 35th Congressional District. He lost in the Republican primary on March 3, 2026.
Cortez completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2026. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Cortez graduated from Baylor University and taught at the University of North Texas. He later became a member of U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz's (R) staff. Cortez later attended the Harvard Kennedy School. As of the 2026 primary, Cortez had also worked as a rancher and the founder of a tech company.[1][2][3]
Elections
2026
See also: Texas' 35th Congressional District election, 2026
Texas' 35th Congressional District election, 2026 (March 3 Democratic primary)
Texas' 35th Congressional District election, 2026 (March 3 Republican primary)
Texas' 35th Congressional District election, 2026 (May 26 Republican primary runoff)
Texas' 35th Congressional District election, 2026 (May 26 Democratic primary runoff)
General election
The primary runoff will occur on May 26, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary runoff.
Democratic primary runoff election
Democratic primary runoff for U.S. House Texas District 35
Maureen Galindo and Johnny Garcia are running in the Democratic primary runoff for U.S. House Texas District 35 on May 26, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Maureen Galindo | |
 | Johnny Garcia | |
| ||||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary runoff election
Republican primary runoff for U.S. House Texas District 35
Carlos De La Cruz and John Lujan are running in the Republican primary runoff for U.S. House Texas District 35 on May 26, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Carlos De La Cruz | |
 | John Lujan | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 35
Maureen Galindo and Johnny Garcia advanced to a runoff. They defeated Whitney Masterson-Moyes and John Lira in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 35 on March 3, 2026.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Maureen Galindo | 29.2 | 15,931 |
| ✔ | | Johnny Garcia | 27.0 | 14,743 |
 | Whitney Masterson-Moyes | 23.4 | 12,762 | |
 | John Lira | 20.4 | 11,122 | |
| Total votes: 54,558 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Greg Casar (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 35
The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 35 on March 3, 2026.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | John Lujan | 32.5 | 13,899 |
| ✔ | | Carlos De La Cruz | 27.1 | 11,579 |
 | Jay Furman | 12.9 | 5,500 | |
 | Ryan Krause | 9.0 | 3,840 | |
 | Joshua Cortez | 4.5 | 1,903 | |
 | Steven Wright | 4.0 | 1,706 | |
 | Randy Adams | 3.7 | 1,574 | |
 | Vanessa Hicks-Callaway | 3.5 | 1,492 | |
 | Mark Eberwine | 1.5 | 652 | |
 | Rod Lingsch | 0.8 | 345 | |
 | Larry La Rose | 0.6 | 272 | |
| Total votes: 42,762 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
Endorsements
Cortez received the following endorsements. To send us additional endorsements, click here.
- Texas Right to Life
- True Texas Project
- Young Conservatives of Texas
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Joshua Cortez completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2026. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Cortez's responses.
| Collapse all
- Experience: I am the only candidate in the race who has worked in the US Senate and the US House for Texas Republicans. I am not a swamp staffer I know what needs to be done and I will hit the ground running from day one.
- Access: I already have relationships with key Texas offices to hit the ground running and move forward in the next two years of the America First agenda. I already have the relationships with key stakeholders in the new Texas 35th district a region of which I am from and have previously advocated for in Congress.
- Awareness: I know the issues facing our region. We have a water crisis that is on the horizon for our rural areas. Our ranchers and farmers need to be supported locally as we do not want to resort to foreign food sources for food that can be grown and raised here locally in Texas. That is a national security issue when we are beholden to foreign entities for our food. The same goes for Texas energy. We can extract and produce our own Texas energy here in Texas' 35th district. Texas energy brings Texans jobs, we can be self sufficient with that and not be subject to foreign countries energy supplies.
1. Supporting our President’s America First agenda so Washington once again puts American workers, families, and small businesses ahead of bureaucrat's woke special interests.
2. Working to balance the budget by cutting spending, restoring fiscal discipline, and protecting Social Security and Medicare for current & near‑retirees.
3. Strengthening our border and military by finishing the wall where needed. Giving our servicemen the tools to do their job.
Locally, my priorities are:
1. Beginning to address our region’s looming water crisis.
2. Protecting Texas agricultural and energy independence.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign website
Cortez's campaign website stated the following:
Texas Jobs for Texans First
Build a stronger economy by empowering our small businesses, supporting local energy production, and working to ensure that Texans are first in line for job opportunities.
American Energy & Food IndependenceChampion our local oil, gas, farmers and ranchers to ensure America never relies on foreign nations for our energy or food supply.
Address Our Region’s Impending Water CrisisWork with local leaders and our municipalities to get ahead of our rapidly depleting natural resources.
Border and Homeland SecurityFight for a permanently secured border, protecting our families from dangerous fentanyl, and restoring law and order.
Support for Our Veterans & Military ExcellenceHonor those who served, ensure that America maintains the strongest military in the world, and fight for local military and civilian jobs at our region’s bases.
Expanding OpportunityIncrease access to affordable trade, and vocational training so every Texan can achieve the American Dream in an AI dominated economy.
Defending seniorsProtect Social Security and Medicare for our seniors. No benefit cuts, just real support and stronger retirement security for those who built our communities.
Pro-Life CommitmentDefend every innocent life and support strong laws that protect the unborn. No taxpayer dollars for abortion just life-saving care for mothers and babies.
Fight for Our First RespondersPush to expand grants and resources for rural firefighters, EMS and law enforcement. Our heroes deserve better equipment, faster training, and more support for safer communities.
Pro-Family & Parents’ RightsStand up for our parents and families who must always have the final say in their child’s upbringing.
— Joshua Cortez's campaign website (November 14, 2025)
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
Footnotes
