Marc Flores

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Marc Flores

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

March 3, 2020

Education

Bachelor's

Texas A&M

Personal

Profession

Construction manager

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign YouTube

Personal LinkedIn

Marc Flores (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Texas' 18th Congressional District. He lost in the Democratic primary on March 3, 2020.

Flores completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Marc Flores earned a bachelor's degree in construction science from Texas A&M. Flores’s career experience includes working as a construction manager overseeing the construction of healthcare buildings.

Elections

2020

See also: Texas' 18th Congressional District election, 2020

Texas' 18th Congressional District election, 2020 (March 3 Republican primary)

Texas' 18th Congressional District election, 2020 (March 3 Democratic primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House Texas District 18

Incumbent Sheila Jackson Lee defeated Wendell Champion, Luke Spencer, and Vince Duncan in the general election for U.S. House Texas District 18 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sheila Jackson Lee (D)	73.3	180,952
		Wendell Champion (R)	23.5	58,033
		Luke Spencer (L)	1.8	4,514
		Vince Duncan (Independent)	1.4	3,396

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 246,895
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary runoff election

Republican primary runoff for U.S. House Texas District 18

Wendell Champion defeated Robert Cadena in the Republican primary runoff for U.S. House Texas District 18 on July 14, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Wendell Champion	71.8	4,000
		Robert Cadena	28.2	1,570

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 5,570
= 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 18

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 18 on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sheila Jackson Lee	77.1	49,729
		Marc Flores	8.3	5,353
		Bimal Patel	3.8	2,456
		Jerry Ford Sr.	3.7	2,417
		Stevens Orozco	3.4	2,180
		Michael Allen	2.6	1,672
		Donovan Boson	1.1	709

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 64,516
= 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 election

Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 18

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 18 on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Wendell Champion	35.1	3,428
✔		Robert Cadena	20.5	2,005
		T.C. Manning	18.7	1,823
		Nathan Milliron	11.0	1,076
		Ava Pate	8.1	794
	Submit photo	Nellie Heiskell	6.5	638

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 9,764
= 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

• Whitney Hatter (R)

Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for U.S. House Texas District 18

Luke Spencer advanced from the Libertarian convention for U.S. House Texas District 18 on March 21, 2020.

		Candidate
✔		Luke Spencer (L)

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source
= 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.

Campaign themes

2020

Video for Ballotpedia

Video submitted to Ballotpedia Released 2020-01-23

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Marc Flores completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Flores' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a native of Laredo Texas and have spent the last 18 years building some of the most complex healthcare construction projects in Houston, managing hundreds of companies and thousands of workers. I have strong experience managing a large volunteer node for the Beto O'Rourke for US Senate campaign. I am a proud product of 'la frontera', the Texas public school system, and Texas A&M University.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• We can do better when we work together. I will run a locally focused office that retains talent, that works well with others, and gets bills passed and enacted.
• We can do better when we work on local issues first. The 18th Congressional District is the 5th poorest in Texas, even though it has been located in one of the biggest economic boom areas in the country over the last 20 years. I will request committee assignments that help the district, rather than to achieve a national profile.
• We can do better when we work on being effective, rather than prominent. I don't need to be on TV, I don't need to have the spotlight in the room. I will be the most effective person in the room.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

My legislative priorities include: flooding, healthcare, poverty eradication, education, and transportation.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

I look up to Federico Peña, who in addition to being my uncle, was a trailblazing politician as Mayor of Denver and as Cabinet Secretary for the Departments of Energy and Transportation. He expanded the electorate, provided meaningful positive change while in office, and represented his stakeholders well.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

I think that selflessness is the most important principle for an effective elected official. It isn't about the elected official, but about the constituents. Obviously, there is some self promotion and aggressiveness that are part of the political process, but that should be balanced with the principle that "it isn't about me".

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

The number one responsibility is to ensure that you represent the stakeholders of the district. In order to do so, you have to be accessible to those voters. It goes beyond simply opening a district office, the US Representative has to seek out opinion and feedback.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I want my legacy to be that the stakeholders of the district recognize that I provided them with a meaningful and positive change in return for their support.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

My first job was as a delivery driver in Laredo for a pharmacy when I was generally delivering valuable medications to those living on Medicare. This experience showed me the many people struggling to get by in some of the poorest communities in America and shaped my idea of how our government can do more to help those in most need.

What qualities does the U.S. House of Representatives possess that makes it unique as an institution?

The House of Representatives is the people's voice and is designed to provide a more rapid response to the desires of the people than other Federal institutions. In order for it to work as intended, it should be open, transparent, accessible to the people, and collegial.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for representatives to have previous experience in government or politics?

It can be beneficial, but only if that incumbency shows tangible results for the stakeholders in the district. There's always a tradeoff between incumbency and stasis. Any accounting for incumbency should reflect how the district has performed over the tenure of the incumbent.

What do you perceive to be the United States’ greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

Our biggest challenge is to ensure that our economy works for all of its stakeholders as we transition into a more post-industrial economy. Virtually every economic and political structure is based on the economy of the post-WWII period. We need to get this correct. The district has special challenges that relate to affordable housing, living wages, accessible transportation, flooding, affordable and available healthcare, and education.

If you are not a current representative, are there certain committees that you would want to be a part of?

My first choices would be Transportation and Infrastructure, Education and Labor, and Financial Services (Housing, Community Development, and Insurance subcommittee).

If you are a current representative, why did you join your current committees?

N/A

Do you believe that two years is the right term length for representatives?

I support elections every two years for the US House of Representatives.

What are your thoughts on term limits?

I think that is something that I'm willing to defer to the voters. There are arguments either way. But I think that the conditions of representation shouldn't be decided by the representatives themselves.

If you are not currently a member of your party’s leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives, would you be interested in joining the leadership? If so, in what role?

I am a Democrat and will support the leadership to the greatest extent possible, within the constraints of my districts' needs. It is not my goal to take a leadership role at first, but would consider serving if asked.

Is there a particular representative, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

I am particularly inspired by Rep. Barbara Jordan.

Both sitting representatives and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?

There are many memorable and impactful stories I've heard as I have block walked in every corner of the district, but one story that I can share is one of a high school senior who made the difficult decision to not fill out his FAFSA form to obtain financial assistance to attend college and he made this decision because he feared what the government would do with the personal information the form asked him to include about his immigrant parents. He is now going to College paying his own way.

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.

See also

2020 Elections

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Government

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External links

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Footnotes

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Texas' current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

John Cornyn (R)

Ted Cruz (R)

Representatives

District 1

Nathaniel Moran (R)

District 2

Daniel Crenshaw (R)

District 3

Keith Self (R)

District 4

Pat Fallon (R)

District 5

Lance Gooden (R)

District 6

Jake Ellzey (R)

District 7

Lizzie Fletcher (D)

District 8

Morgan Luttrell (R)

District 9

Al Green (D)

District 10

Michael McCaul (R)

District 11

August Pfluger (R)

District 12

Craig Goldman (R)

District 13

Ronny Jackson (R)

District 14

Randy Weber (R)

District 15

Monica De La Cruz (R)

District 16

Veronica Escobar (D)

District 17

Pete Sessions (R)

District 18

Vacant

District 19

Jodey Arrington (R)

District 20

Joaquin Castro (D)

District 21

Chip Roy (R)

District 22

Troy Nehls (R)

District 23

Tony Gonzales (R)

District 24

Beth Van Duyne (R)

District 25

Roger Williams (R)

District 26

Brandon Gill (R)

District 27

Michael Cloud (R)

District 28

Henry Cuellar (D)

District 29

Sylvia Garcia (D)

District 30

Jasmine Crockett (D)

District 31

John Carter (R)

District 32

Julie Johnson (D)

District 33

Marc Veasey (D)

District 34

Vicente Gonzalez (D)

District 35

Greg Casar (D)

District 36

Brian Babin (R)

District 37

Lloyd Doggett (D)

District 38

Wesley Hunt (R)

Republican Party (27)

Democratic Party (12)

Vacancies (1)