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Texas' 17th Congressional District election, 2020

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Texas' 17th Congressional District
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Democratic primary
Republican primary
Republican primary runoff
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: December 9, 2019
Primary: March 3, 2020
Primary runoff: July 14, 2020
General: November 3, 2020
Pre-election incumbent:
Bill Flores (Republican)
How to vote
Poll times: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Voting in Texas
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Solid Republican
Inside Elections: Solid Republican
Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Republican
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds
U.S. House battlegrounds
Federal and state primary competitiveness
Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2020
See also
Texas' 17th Congressional District
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Texas elections, 2020
U.S. Congress elections, 2020
U.S. Senate elections, 2020
U.S. House elections, 2020

All U.S. congressional districts, including the 17th Congressional District of Texas, held elections in 2020.

Pete Sessions won election in the general election for U.S. House Texas District 17.

Candidate filing deadline Primary election General election
December 9, 2019
March 3, 2020
November 3, 2020


Heading into the election the incumbent was Republican Bill Flores, who was first elected in 2010.


Pete Sessions defeated Renee Swann in the Republican primary runoff. Rick Kennedy defeated David Jaramillo in the Democratic primary runoff.

Texas' 17th Congressional District is located in the central portion of the state and includes the counties of Brazos, Burleson, Falls, Freestone, Limestone, McLennan, Milam, Robertson and part of Bastrop, Lee, Leon, and Travis counties.[1]


Democratic Party For more information about the Democratic primary, click here.
Republican Party For more information about the Republican primary, click here.

Post-election analysis

The table below compares the vote totals in the 2020 presidential election and 2020 U.S. House election for this district. The presidential election data was compiled by Daily Kos.

Presidential and congressional election results, Texas' 17th Congressional District, 2020
Race Presidential U.S. House
Democratic candidate Democratic Party 43.6 40.9
Republican candidate Republican Party 54.6 55.9
Difference 11 15

Election procedure changes in 2020

See also: Changes to election dates, procedures, and administration in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

Ballotpedia provided comprehensive coverage of how election dates and procedures changed in 2020. While the majority of changes occurred as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, some changes occurred for other reasons.

Texas modified its absentee/mail-in voting, candidate filing, and early voting procedures for the November 3, 2020, general election as follows:

  • Absentee/mail-in voting: Local election officials could not reject an absentee ballot due to a perceived signature mismatch unless the voter was given a pre-rejection notice of this finding and a "meaningful opportunity to cure his or her ballot's rejection." Return locations for absentee/mail-in ballots were limited to one per county.
  • Candidate filing procedures: The petition deadline for independent candidates for non-presidential office was extended to August 13, 2020.
  • Early voting: Early voting began on October 13, 2020.

For a full timeline about election modifications made in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, click here.

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for U.S. House Texas District 17

Pete Sessions defeated Rick Kennedy and Ted Brown in the general election for U.S. House Texas District 17 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Pete Sessions
Pete Sessions (R)
 
55.9
 
171,390
Image of Rick Kennedy
Rick Kennedy (D) Candidate Connection
 
40.9
 
125,565
Image of Ted Brown
Ted Brown (L) Candidate Connection
 
3.2
 
9,918

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

Total votes: 306,873
Candidate Connection = 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 runoff election

Democratic primary runoff for U.S. House Texas District 17

Rick Kennedy defeated David Jaramillo in the Democratic primary runoff for U.S. House Texas District 17 on July 14, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Rick Kennedy
Rick Kennedy Candidate Connection
 
57.3
 
13,496
Image of David Jaramillo
David Jaramillo Candidate Connection
 
42.7
 
10,054

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

Total votes: 23,550
(100.00% precincts reporting)
Candidate Connection = 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 17

Pete Sessions defeated Renee Swann in the Republican primary runoff for U.S. House Texas District 17 on July 14, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Pete Sessions
Pete Sessions
 
53.5
 
18,524
Image of Renee Swann
Renee Swann
 
46.5
 
16,096

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

Total votes: 34,620
(100.00% precincts reporting)
Candidate Connection = 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 17

Rick Kennedy and David Jaramillo advanced to a runoff. They defeated William Foster III in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 17 on March 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Rick Kennedy
Rick Kennedy Candidate Connection
 
47.9
 
22,148
✔
Image of David Jaramillo
David Jaramillo Candidate Connection
 
35.0
 
16,170
Image of William Foster III
William Foster III Candidate Connection
 
17.1
 
7,887

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

Total votes: 46,205
Candidate Connection = 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 17

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 17 on March 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Pete Sessions
Pete Sessions
 
31.6
 
21,667
✔
Image of Renee Swann
Renee Swann
 
19.0
 
13,047
Image of George Hindman
George Hindman
 
18.1
 
12,405
Image of Elianor Vessali
Elianor Vessali Candidate Connection
 
9.2
 
6,283
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Scott Bland
 
7.2
 
4,947
Image of Trent Sutton
Trent Sutton Candidate Connection
 
5.2
 
3,593
Image of Todd Kent
Todd Kent Candidate Connection
 
3.5
 
2,367
Image of Kristen Alamo Rowin
Kristen Alamo Rowin Candidate Connection
 
1.7
 
1,183
Image of Laurie Godfrey McReynolds
Laurie Godfrey McReynolds Candidate Connection
 
1.6
 
1,105
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
David Saucedo
 
1.4
 
975
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Jeffrey Oppenheim (Unofficially withdrew)
 
0.7
 
483
Image of Ahmad Adnan
Ahmad Adnan Candidate Connection
 
0.7
 
477

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

Total votes: 68,532
Candidate Connection = 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.

Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for U.S. House Texas District 17

Ted Brown advanced from the Libertarian convention for U.S. House Texas District 17 on March 21, 2020.

Candidate
✔
Image of Ted Brown
Ted Brown (L) Candidate Connection

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

Candidate Connection = 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.

Runoff elections in Texas

In Texas, a primary election candidate for congressional, state, or county office must receive a majority of the vote (more than 50%) to be declared the winner. If no candidate wins the requisite majority, a runoff election is held between the top two vote-getters.[2]

As of 2020, the Texas Secretary of State office stated, "There is no requirement to have previously voted in the general primary election in order to participate in the subsequent primary runoff election. Therefore, if a qualified voter did not vote in the general primary election, they are still eligible to vote in the primary runoff election." The office also stated that "if a voter votes in the primary of one party, they will only be able to vote in that party’s primary runoff election. ... After being affiliated with a party, a voter is not able to change or cancel their party affiliation until the end of the calendar year."[3]


Pivot Counties

See also: Pivot Counties by state

One of 254 Texas counties—0.4 percent—is a Pivot County. Pivot Counties are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.

Counties won by Trump in 2016 and Obama in 2012 and 2008
County Trump margin of victory in 2016 Obama margin of victory in 2012 Obama margin of victory in 2008
Jefferson County, Texas 0.48% 1.61% 2.25%

In the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump (R) won Texas with 52.2 percent of the vote. Hillary Clinton (D) received 43.2 percent. In presidential elections between 1900 and 2016, Texas cast votes for the winning presidential candidate 66.7 percent of the time. In that same time frame, Texas supported Democratic candidates slightly more often than Republicans, 53.3 to 46.7 percent. The state, however, favored Republicans in every presidential election between 2000 and 2016.

Presidential results by legislative district

The following table details results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by state House districts in Texas. Click [show] to expand the table. The "Obama," "Romney," "Clinton," and "Trump" columns describe the percent of the vote each presidential candidate received in the district. The "2012 Margin" and "2016 Margin" columns describe the margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in those years. The "Party Control" column notes which party held that seat heading into the 2018 general election. Data on the results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections broken down by state legislative districts was compiled by Daily Kos.[4][5]

In 2012, Barack Obama (D) won 54 out of 150 state House districts in Texas with an average margin of victory of 37.4 points. In 2016, Hillary Clinton (D) won 65 out of 150 state House districts in Texas with an average margin of victory of 36.4 points. Clinton won 10 districts controlled by Republicans heading into the 2018 elections.
In 2012, Mitt Romney (R) won 96 out of 150 state House districts in Texas with an average margin of victory of 36.2 points. In 2016, Donald Trump (R) won 85 out of 150 state House districts in Texas with an average margin of victory of 34.5 points.

District analysis

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index
See also: FiveThirtyEight's elasticity scores

The 2017 Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+12, meaning that in the previous two presidential elections, this district's results were 12 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Texas' 17th Congressional District the 113th most Republican nationally.[6]

FiveThirtyEight's September 2018 elasticity score for states and congressional districts measured "how sensitive it is to changes in the national political environment." This district's elasticity score was 0.97. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 0.97 points toward that party.[7]

Campaign finance

The chart below contains data from financial reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission.

Name Party Receipts* Disbursements** Cash on hand Date
Rick Kennedy Democratic Party $216,826 $218,253 $0 As of November 23, 2020
Pete Sessions Republican Party $1,485,909 $1,696,588 $165,990 As of December 31, 2020
Ted Brown Libertarian Party $3,041 $3,041 $0 As of December 29, 2020

Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2020. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee."
** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.


Race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods

Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:

  • Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
  • Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
  • Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.[8]
  • Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.

Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.[9][10][11]

Race ratings: Texas' 17th Congressional District election, 2020
Race trackerRace ratings
November 3, 2020October 27, 2020October 20, 2020October 13, 2020
The Cook Political ReportSolid RepublicanSolid RepublicanSolid RepublicanSolid Republican
Inside Elections with Nathan L. GonzalesSolid RepublicanSolid RepublicanSolid RepublicanSolid Republican
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal BallSafe RepublicanSafe RepublicanSafe RepublicanSafe Republican
Note: Ballotpedia updates external race ratings every week throughout the election season.

Candidate ballot access

The table below details filing requirements for 17th Congressional District candidates in Texas in the 2020 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Texas, click here.

Filing requirements, 2020
State Office Party Signatures required Signature formula Filing fee Filing fee formula Filing deadline Source
Texas 17th Congressional District Democratic or Republican N/A N/A $3,125.00 Fixed number 12/9/2019 Source
Texas 17th Congressional District Unaffiliated 500 5% of all votes cast for governor in the district in the last election; not to exceed 500 N/A N/A 12/9/2019 (declaration of intent); 8/13/2020 (final filing deadline) Source

District election history

2018

See also: Texas' 17th Congressional District election, 2018

General election

General election for U.S. House Texas District 17

Incumbent Bill Flores defeated Rick Kennedy and Peter Churchman in the general election for U.S. House Texas District 17 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Bill Flores
Bill Flores (R) Candidate Connection
 
56.8
 
134,841
Image of Rick Kennedy
Rick Kennedy (D)
 
41.3
 
98,070
Image of Peter Churchman
Peter Churchman (L) Candidate Connection
 
1.9
 
4,440

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 237,351
Candidate Connection = 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 17

Rick Kennedy defeated Dale Mantey in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 17 on March 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Rick Kennedy
Rick Kennedy
 
63.3
 
14,343
Image of Dale Mantey
Dale Mantey
 
36.7
 
8,300

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

Total votes: 22,643
Candidate Connection = 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 17

Incumbent Bill Flores advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 17 on March 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Bill Flores
Bill Flores Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
44,388

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 44,388
Candidate Connection = 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.

2016

See also: Texas' 17th Congressional District election, 2016

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Republican. Incumbent Bill Flores (R) defeated William Matta (D) and Clark Patterson (L) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Flores defeated Ralph Patterson and Kaleb Sims in the Republican primary on March 1, 2016.[12][13]

U.S. House, Texas District 17 General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngBill Flores Incumbent 60.8% 149,417
     Democratic William Matta 35.2% 86,603
     Libertarian Clark Patterson 4% 9,708
Total Votes 245,728
Source: Texas Secretary of State


U.S. House, Texas District 17 Republican Primary, 2016
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngBill Flores Incumbent 72.4% 60,502
Ralph Patterson 18.4% 15,411
Kaleb Sims 9.1% 7,634
Total Votes 83,547
Source: Texas Secretary of State

2014

See also: Texas' 17th Congressional District elections, 2014

The 17th Congressional District of Texas held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Bill Flores (R) defeated Nick Haynes (D) and Shawn Michael Hamilton (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, Texas District 17 General Election, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngBill Flores Incumbent 64.6% 85,807
     Democratic Nick Haynes 32.4% 43,049
     Libertarian Shawn Michael Hamilton 3% 4,009
Total Votes 132,865
Source: Texas Secretary of State

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Texas Redistricting Map, "Map," accessed July 24, 2012
  2. ↑ Texas Legislature, "Chapter 172. Primary Elections," accessed July 10, 2020
  3. ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "Election Advisory No. 2020-05," February 11, 2020
  4. ↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' statewide election results by congressional and legislative districts," July 9, 2013
  5. ↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' 2016 presidential results for congressional and legislative districts," February 6, 2017
  6. ↑ Cook Political Report, "Introducing the 2017 Cook Political Report Partisan Voter Index," April 7, 2017
  7. ↑ FiveThirtyEight, "Election Update: The Most (And Least) Elastic States And Districts," September 6, 2018
  8. ↑ Inside Elections also uses Tilt ratings to indicate an even smaller advantage and greater competitiveness.
  9. ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Nathan Gonzalez," April 19, 2018
  10. ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Kyle Kondik," April 19, 2018
  11. ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Charlie Cook," April 22, 2018
  12. ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "2016 March Primary Election Candidate Filings by County," accessed December 15, 2015
  13. ↑ The New York Times, "Texas Primary Results," March 1, 2016


Texas' current delegation to the United States Congress
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Al Green (D)
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Chip Roy (R)
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