Texas' 24th Congressional District election, 2020

	2022 → ← 2018
Texas' 24th Congressional District
	Democratic primary; Democratic primary runoff; Republican primary; 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:; Kenny Marchant (Republican)
How to vote
	Poll times: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Voting in Texas
Race ratings
	Cook Political Report: Lean Democratic; Inside Elections: Tilt Democratic; Sabato's Crystal Ball: Lean Democratic
Ballotpedia analysis
	U.S. Senate battlegrounds; U.S. House battlegrounds; Federal and state primary competitiveness; Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2020
See also
	Texas' 24th Congressional District; U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th • 7th • 8th • 9th • 10th • 11th • 12th • 13th • 14th • 15th • 16th • 17th • 18th • 19th • 20th • 21st • 22nd • 23rd • 24th • 25th • 26th • 27th • 28th • 29th • 30th • 31st • 32nd • 33rd • 34th • 35th • 36th; Texas elections, 2020; U.S. Congress elections, 2020; U.S. Senate elections, 2020; U.S. House elections, 2020; Alabama U.S. House racesAlaska U.S. House racesArizona U.S. House racesArkansas U.S. House racesCalifornia U.S. House racesColorado U.S. House racesConnecticut U.S. House racesDelaware U.S. House racesFlorida U.S. House racesGeorgia U.S. House racesHawaii U.S. House racesIdaho U.S. House racesIllinois U.S. House racesIndiana U.S. House racesIowa U.S. House racesKansas U.S. House racesKentucky U.S. House racesLouisiana U.S. House racesMaine U.S. House racesMaryland U.S. House racesMassachusetts U.S. House racesMichigan U.S. House racesMinnesota U.S. House racesMississippi U.S. House racesMissouri U.S. House racesMontana U.S. House racesNebraska U.S. House racesNevada U.S. House racesNew Hampshire U.S. House racesNew Jersey U.S. House racesNew Mexico U.S. House racesNew York U.S. House racesNorth Carolina U.S. House racesNorth Dakota U.S. House racesOhio U.S. House racesOklahoma U.S. House racesOregon U.S. House racesPennsylvania U.S. House racesRhode Island U.S. House racesSouth Carolina U.S. House racesSouth Dakota U.S. House racesTennessee U.S. House racesTexas U.S. House racesUtah U.S. House racesVermont U.S. House racesVirginia U.S. House racesWashington U.S. House racesWest Virginia U.S. House racesWisconsin U.S. House racesWyoming U.S. House racesSubmit

Beth Van Duyne (R) defeated Candace Valenzuela (D) and three other candidates in the general election for Texas' 24th Congressional District on November 3, 2020. Incumbent Rep. Kenny Marchant (R), who was first elected in 2004, did not run for re-election.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) targeted Texas’ 24th in 2020.^[1] Both the DCCC and the National Republican Congressional Committee offered support to their respective candidates.^[2]^[3]

In 2016 and 2018, Marchant defeated challenger Jan McDowell (D) 56% to 39% and 51% to 48%, respectively. The district was last represented by a Democrat in 2005. Beto O'Rourke (D) won the district in the 2018 Texas Senate election with 51% of the vote to Ted Cruz’s (R) 48%. Cruz won the statewide election.^[4]

Donald Trump (R) defeated Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election 51% to 45%. In 2012, Mitt Romney (R) won the district with 60% of the vote to Barack Obama’s (D) 38%.

Third party, independent, and write-in candidates included Darren Hamilton (L), Mark Bauer (I), and Stephen Kuzmich (I).

The outcome of this race affected partisan control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 117th Congress. All 435 seats in the House were up for election. At the time of the election, Democrats had a 232 to 198 majority over Republicans. The Libertarian Party had one seat. Four seats were vacant. Democrats defended 30 districts Donald Trump (R) won in 2016. Republicans defended five districts Hillary Clinton (D) won in 2016.

Texas' 24th Congressional District is located in the northern portion of the state and includes portions of Tarrant, Denton and Dallas counties.^[5]

Darren Hamilton, Mark Bauer, and Stephen Kuzmich completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection Survey. Click here to view their responses.

Darren Hamilton participated in a Candidate Conversation with Ballotpedia and EnCiv. Click here to watch.

This race was one of 89 congressional races that were decided by 10 percent or less in 2020.

Click here for coverage of the July 14, 2020, Democratic primary runoff.

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

This election was a battleground race. Other 2020 battlegrounds included:

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' 24th Congressional District, 2020
Race	Presidential	U.S. House
Democratic candidate	51.9	47.5
Republican candidate	46.5	48.8
Difference	5.4	1.3

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 24

Beth Van Duyne defeated Candace Valenzuela, Darren Hamilton, Steve Kuzmich, and Mark Bauer in the general election for U.S. House Texas District 24 on November 3, 2020.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Beth Van Duyne (R)	48.8	167,910
	Candace Valenzuela (D)	47.5	163,326
	Darren Hamilton (L)	1.6	5,647
	Steve Kuzmich (Independent)	1.2	4,229
	Mark Bauer (Independent)	0.8	2,909

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 344,021
= 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.

Watch the Candidate Conversation for this race!

Democratic primary runoff election

Democratic primary runoff for U.S. House Texas District 24

Candace Valenzuela defeated Kim Olson in the Democratic primary runoff for U.S. House Texas District 24 on July 14, 2020.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Candace Valenzuela	60.4	20,003
	Kim Olson	39.6	13,131

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 33,134
= 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 24

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 24 on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Kim Olson	41.0	24,442
✔		Candace Valenzuela	30.4	18,078
		Jan McDowell	10.0	5,965
	Submit photo	Crystal Fletcher (Unofficially withdrew)	5.7	3,386
		Richard Fleming	5.1	3,010
		Sam Vega	4.5	2,677
		John Biggan	3.4	1,996

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 59,554
= 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

William Carl Fisher (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 24

Beth Van Duyne defeated David Fegan, Desi Maes, Sunny Chaparala, and Jeron Liverman in the Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 24 on March 3, 2020.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Beth Van Duyne	64.3	32,067
	David Fegan	20.7	10,295
	Desi Maes	5.8	2,867
	Sunny Chaparala	5.6	2,808
	Jeron Liverman	3.6	1,809

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 49,846
= 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

Deanna Maria Metzger (R)

Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for U.S. House Texas District 24

Darren Hamilton advanced from the Libertarian convention for U.S. House Texas District 24 on March 21, 2020.

		Candidate
✔		Darren Hamilton (L)

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

Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles created in one of two ways. Either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey or Ballotpedia staff created a profile after identifying the candidate as noteworthy.^[6] Ballotpedia staff compiled profiles based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements.

Candace Valenzuela

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office:

Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD Board of Trustees (2017-2019)

Biography: Valenzuela graduated from Claremont McKenna College with a bachelor's degree in government. As of her 2020 campaign, her professional experience included working with special-needs students and being a youth mentor and tutor.

Key Messages

The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.

Valenzuela said her education policies were informed by her childhood experiences. She said she would invest in public education, increase access to vocational training, and support universal pre-K.

Valenzuela said that all Americans should have the option to buy into Medicare and that the public should be able to negotiate prescription drug prices.

Valenzuela supported funding improvements to roads, bridges, and waterways, and said that doing so would generate economic growth and improve public safety.

Show sources

Sources: Fort Worth Star-Telegram, "34-year-old school board member enters race against Texas Rep. Marchant," April 15, 2019; Fort Worth Star-Telegram, "Meet the Texas Democrats running for Congress in District 24," February 12, 2020; Candace Valenzuela's 2020 campaign website, "Protecting and Improving Public Education," accessed October 1, 2020; Candance Valenzuela 2020 campaign website, "Home," accessed February 19, 2020; LinkedIn, "Candace Valenzuela," accessed October 1, 2020

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Texas District 24 in 2020.

Beth Van Duyne

Party: Republican Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office:

Mayor of Irving (2011-2017)
Irving City Councillor (2004-2010)

Biography: Van Duyne received a bachelor’s degree in government and law from Cornell University. She worked as a consultant, as president of BCI Marketing Group, and as a regional administrator for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in the Trump administration.

Key Messages

The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.

Van Duyne said she would support the deportation of unauthorized immigrants who commit crimes and oppose police department budget reductions.

Van Duyne said that while she was Mayor of Irving, the city was among the fastest-growing for job creation and one of the safest for families and businesses.

Van Duyne said she opposed the Affordable Care Act. She supported expanding the use of health savings accounts, allowing the interstate purchase of healthcare, and reducing healthcare regulations.

Show sources

Sources: YouTube, "Beth Van Duyne TV ad," January 23, 2020; YouTube, "No Police, No Peace," September 23, 2020; Beth Van Duyne's 2020 campaign website, "Beth VanDuyne 2020 – DMN Primary Questionnaire – 1-10-20," accessed October 1, 2020; LinkedIn, "Beth Van Duyne," accessed October 1, 2020

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Texas District 24 in 2020.

Mark Bauer

Party: Independent

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography: "Mark Bauer built a career in journalism around uniting stakeholders from a variety of perspectives. He believes the two-party system has proven ineffective at producing solutions for our country's shared interests. Mark advocates for a third way in order to open a free market of ideas to address the challenges and opportunities confronting Texans in this new decade. That is why Mark is running as an Independent for Congress in Texas' 24th District. He will seek out pragmatic and fact-based solutions for the economic prosperity of all Americans while respecting the individual liberties that have served as our bedrock since our nation's founding."

Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

Support a third way to open a free market of ideas

Change the way we talk about politics

Empower local governance

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Texas District 24 in 2020.

Darren Hamilton

Party: Libertarian Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography: "I am an information technologies manager for a small company. Statistics and analysis are my stock in trade. I am also a veteran of the United States Marine Corps having served in that body for 8 years including in Desert Shield and Desert Storm. One thing Marines know how to do well is fight for a cause that we hold sacred. American politics is dominated by two political parties - the old parties - which seems stupid because no developed country in the world is limited to two political parties. And over the past few decades, the old parties have become increasingly distant in their respective ideological entrenchment leaving no middle ground upon which they agree. Libertarians, as a centrist party, are well aware of this "political no-mans-land" because, despite their zealous devotion to their respective ideologies, the old parties agree that no one else is allowed to "play on their field", and any attempts to bridge the gap between them are summarily attacked from both sides. If, like me, you have long experienced the "battle fatigue" of old party candidates whose ONLY goal seems to be to "beat the other guy by whatever means necessary", then perhaps it's time to look farther afield. I firmly believe that the residents of north Texas deserve a congressional representative who understands their needs, who lives in their area and shares their lives, and is willing to fight for the ideals that mean the most to all of us regardless of extreme ideology."

Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

Immigration - If Americans want immigrants to enter the United States through legal channels, they need to make those channels fair, reasonable, and more accessible to immigrants.

Education - Parents, teachers, and the students themselves should be able to determine for themselves the best course for their education, not the government.

Healthcare - People want access to quality healthcare at a reasonable cost. The best possible way to ensure this is to remove government interference in the healthcare industry.

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Texas District 24 in 2020.

Steve Kuzmich

Party: Independent

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography: "I have lived in north Texas since grade school and raised a family here. I care deeply about our community and Country. Like many, I am dissatisfied with our political leaders and the dysfunction of our government. I am running for Congress because the American political system is broken, our Country is hurting and our Country is in danger. Elected officials need to represent us, not the far right and the far left of their own parties. I am the candidate for reasonably minded voters who want to put Country over party. I am the candidate for voters who want a candidate that is fiscally conservative and socially moderate. I have a proven track record as a problem solver and reasonable person who will listen and can see both sides of issues. While I do have strong beliefs, I am willing to work together with people who have different beliefs to work towards common sense solutions. Always keeping in mind that our most important beliefs are the beliefs that unite us as Americans: freedom, democracy, free markets, shared sacrifice, human rights, respect for three equal branches of government and the rule of law. "

Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

I am fiscally conservative and socially moderate.

I believe that we must always put our Country and our values over the extreme political parties.

I believe in taking care of business, tackling big problems and finding solutions.

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Texas District 24 in 2020.

Candidate Conversations

Click below to watch the conversation for this race.

Polls

See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls

Texas' 24th Congressional District election, 2020: General election polls
Poll	Date	Valenzuela	Van Duyne	Other	Margin of error	Sample size	Sponsor
Victoria Research & Consulting	July 31-August 2, 2020	48%	41%	10%	±4.9	400	House Majority PAC
RMG Research	July 27-August 2, 2020	36%	36%	27%	±4.5	500	U.S. Term Limits

Campaign finance

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

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
Candace Valenzuela	Democratic Party	$4,945,026	$4,933,059	$11,967	As of December 31, 2020
Beth Van Duyne	Republican Party	$3,430,323	$3,361,913	$68,410	As of December 31, 2020
Darren Hamilton	Libertarian Party	$570	$212	$358	As of November 23, 2020
Mark Bauer	Independent	$26,342	$26,542	$-200	As of December 31, 2020
Steve Kuzmich	Independent	$175,504	$201,332	$2,073	As of December 10, 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.

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+9, meaning that in the previous two presidential elections, this district's results were 9 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Texas' 24th Congressional District the 151st most Republican nationally.^[7]

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 1.11. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 1.11 points toward that party.^[8]

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.^[9]
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.^[10]^[11]^[12]

Race ratings: Texas' 24th Congressional District election, 2020
Race tracker	Race ratings
	November 3, 2020	October 27, 2020	October 20, 2020	October 13, 2020
The Cook Political Report	Lean Democratic	Toss-up	Toss-up	Toss-up
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Tilt Democratic	Toss-up	Toss-up	Toss-up
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Lean Democratic	Lean Democratic	Lean Democratic	Lean Democratic
Note: Ballotpedia updates external race ratings every week throughout the election season.

Noteworthy endorsements

See also: Ballotpedia: Our approach to covering endorsements

This section lists noteworthy endorsements issued in this election, including those made by high-profile individuals and organizations, cross-party endorsements, and endorsements made by newspaper editorial boards. It also includes a bulleted list of links to official lists of endorsements for any candidates who published that information on their campaign websites. Please note that this list is not exhaustive. If you are aware of endorsements that should be included, please click here.

Click the links below to see endorsement lists published on candidate campaign websites, if available.

Noteworthy endorsements
Endorsement	Valenzuela (D)	Van Duyne (R)
Newspapers and editorials
The Dallas Morning News^[13]		✔
Fort Worth Star-Telegram^[14]		✔
Elected officials
Senator Kamala Harris (D)^[15]	✔
President Donald Trump (R)^[16]		✔
Individuals
Former Vice President Joe Biden (D)^[15]	✔
Former President Barack Obama (D)^[15]	✔

Timeline

2020

November 2020 (click to collapse)
November
- Nov. 2, 2020: The Cook Political Report shifted its rating of the race from Toss-up to Lean Democratic.^[17]

October 2020 (click to expand)
October
- Oct. 28, 2020: Inside Elections shifted its rating of the race from Toss-up to Tilt Democratic.^[18]
- Oct. 16, 2020: The Fort Worth Star-Telegram endorsed Van Duyne.^[14]
- Oct. 9, 2020: The Dallas Morning News endorsed Van Duyne.^[13]

September 2020 (click to expand)
September
- Sept. 15, 2020: Valenzuela was endorsed by former Vice President Joe Biden (D).^[15]
- Sept. 3, 2020: Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball shifted its rating of the race from Toss-up to Leans Democratic.^[19]

August 2020 (click to expand)
August
- Aug. 6, 2020:
  - A poll of 500 registered voters conducted by RMG Research for U.S. Term Limits was released, showing Valenzuela and Van Duyne tied at 36% with 27% undecided. The poll's margin of error was ±4.5 percentage points.^[20]
  - A poll of 400 registered voters conducted by Victoria Research & Consulting for House Majority PAC was released, showing Valenzuela at 48%, Van Duyne at 41%, and 10% undecided with a ±4.9 margin of error.^[21]

Campaign advertisements

This section shows advertisements released in this race. Ads released by campaigns and, if applicable, satellite groups are embedded or linked below. If you are aware of advertisements that should be included, please email us.

Candace Valenzuela

Supporting Valenzuela

"Together" - Valenzuela campaign ad, released October 11, 2020

"Home" - Valenzuela campaign ad, released September 22, 2020

"Teachers" - Valenzuela campaign ad, released July 8, 2020

"Four Walls" - Valenzuela campaign ad, released June 24, 2019

"When I was a kid, my dad used to jump out of planes and my mom fixed them..." - Valenzuela campaign ad, released October 19, 2020

Beth Van Duyne

Supporting Van Duyne

"Herschel Walker Endorses Beth Van Duyne" - Van Duyne campaign ad, released October 26, 2020

"Tudor Lane" - Van Duyne campaign ad, released September 14, 2020

"The Importance of Healthcare" - Van Duyne campaign ad, released August 19, 2020

"Texans Work Together" - Van Duyne campaign ad, released April 1, 2020

"Beth Van Duyne TV ad" - Van Duyne campaign ad, released January 23, 2020

Opposing Valenzuela

"Why Healthcare Is Important To Me" - Van Duyne campaign ad, released October 7, 2020

"Energy Jobs" - Van Duyne campaign ad, released October 2, 2020

"No Police, No Peace" - Van Duyne campaign ad, released September 23, 2020

"I will never back down..." - Van Duyne campaign ad, released September 18, 2020

Satellite group ads

Opposing Van Duyne

"Beth Van Duyne and Donald Trump are joined at the hip" - League of Conservation Voters ad, released October 14, 2020

"Applause" - Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee ad, released October 7, 2020

Opposing Valenzuela

"Checking the Box" - National Republican Congressional Committee ad, released October 24, 2020

Campaign themes

See also: Campaign themes

Candace Valenzuela

Valenzuela’s campaign website stated the following:

“

Responding to the Economic Impacts of COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic is a public health crisis first and foremost, but the economic toll of the pandemic is mounting, especially for the millions of Americans across the country who were already struggling to make ends meet. The divergence between the stock market and the actual situation the North Texas families are facing is untenable and highlights the worsening inequality in America today.

The classic lethargic D.C. response won’t cut it this time around; just like communities all around America, North Texas families and small businesses need immediate access to real support and relief. In Congress, Candace will work to build a 21st-century social and economic support infrastructure that will be integral to rising from this crisis and limiting damage in future crises.

In Congress, Candace will:

Support the federal government directly compensating employers for keeping employees on their payroll and on health insurance, thereby reducing the cost burden on state and local governments and supporting employees and employers alike.
Champion basic supports for families who were struggling before the pandemic and who are hurting even more now, including supporting a robust national paid family and medical leave.
Demand the federal government step in to fill state and local budget shortfalls created by a decrease in sales tax revenue precipitated by the pandemic. The long-term consequences of these budget shortfalls threaten funding for education, Medicaid, and other vital programs.
Increase the federal minimum wage to $15/hour. During this pandemic, “low-wage” workers have been some of the most likely to have been deemed essential; they risk their lives and keep our communities afloat during this, yet many of them don’t earn a living wage.
Fight for an extension of emergency pandemic unemployment measures that augment traditional unemployment supports and are currently keeping thousands of Texas families afloat.

Responding to the Public Health Impacts of COVID-19
On March 4, Michael Flor, a 70-year old Seattle resident, was admitted to the hospital with symptoms of COVID-19. When he was discharged on May 5, the heroic doctors and nurses who helped him survive lined up and cheered as he exited the hospital. Days later, Flor got his hospital bill, for more than $1.1 million. The story of Michael Flor is the story of COVID-19 in America: the strength of Michael and his family, the heroism of doctors and nurses who risked their lives every day to care for him, and the injustice of a health care system that leads even well-off folks to financial ruin.

No one should go broke paying for healthcare in America, whether it be COVID-19 related costs or not. That’s why Candace supports a robust public health care option.

In Congress, Candace will:

Fight for a robust public health care option to ensure no American goes broke from the costs of medical care.
Ensure testing for COVID-19 is free and widely available for all communities.
Invest in basic and advanced science initiatives at the National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control; it couldn’t be more clear the threat that novel viruses and superbugs pose to our communities, and we need to dramatically enhance our ability to prepare and respond.

Fighting for Criminal Justice Reform & Demanding Police Accountability
Powerful protests against police brutality are sweeping the nation. Candace knows first hand the harm that the overcriminalization of black and brown bodies causes to individuals, families and communities - below, she has laid out a bold policy reform plan drawing on the expertise ofCampaign Zero, a national advocacy and research organization committed to ending the excessive use of force by police in our communities.

Candace also understands that the frustration of protestors and their calls for reform go well beyond discriminatory policing. To create lasting structural change, we need a nuanced and multi-disciplinary approach to reform. Candace knows the complexities of racial inequities in our communities. As an educator, Candace saw how black and brown students as young as pre-K often received disproportionate punishments for acting up in class. As a child, Candace and her siblings experienced the same inordinately harsh and criminalized treatment that too many black and brown kids still face today. That’s why she worked to shut-down the school-to-prison pipeline while on the Carrollton-Farmers Branch school board and will continue to fight to nip injustice in the bud while in Congress.

To achieve true racial justice in America, we need deep structural reforms across our criminal justice system, across our health care system, across our public housing system, and across our education system.That’s the agenda Candace supports, and that’s the perspective she’ll bring to Congress.

In Congress, Candace will:

Support the Congressional Black Caucus endorsed Justice in Policing Act of 2020 which would:
- ban the use of chokeholds;
- establish a national database to track misconduct and the use of force across police departments;
- end the use of no-knock warrants;
- ensure police are held accountable in criminal court by changing the mens rea standard for prosecuting police misconduct from “wilfulness” to “recklessness;”
- demilitarize the police by winding down the federal government’s 1033 program which currently allows local police departments to access military-grade weaponry at almost no cost;
- end qualified immunity, a civil liability shield for police officers that allows them to act with near impunity.
Work with communities to establish alternatives to respond to mental health crises and other emergency response situations in which a social worker would be a more appropriate responder than an armed police officer.
Build an all-civilian oversight structure for police departments to ensure that officers are held accountable by the public rather than investigated by their peers.
Pressure local police departments to remodel their training and use of force policies to emphasize de-escalation by making access to federal grant funds dependent on reform and demand that de-escalation and cultural sensitivity re-certification be done periodically.
Support efforts to require automatic investigation and review of all cases in which a police officer kills a person, and mandate that the results of the investigation be made available to the public.
Create incentives, through federal grant funds, for police departments to recruit and hire a police force that is representative of the communities they serve.
Work to end the role of money as a factor in the administration of justice by ending the cash bail system and eliminating private prisons.

Defending a Woman's Right to Choose
Candace is strongly pro-choice, but she wants it to be an actual choice. That means that we need to not just make sure that abortion is widely accessible (and that we get rid of the Hyde amendment), but that birth control is low-cost, if not free, and that there is access to affordable prenatal and postnatal care for both baby and mama. Texas has a high maternal mortality rate for women of color, and millennials in general are opting to have fewer kids later, if at all, because the cost of healthcare and child care are so prohibitive.

Defending a woman’s right to choose does not stop at being pro-choice, which is why Candace champions policies like paid family and medical leave, universal pre-k and more. Candace will work with groups like EMILY’s List, Planned Parenthood and NARAL to ensure that a woman’s right to choose is protected.

In Congress, Candace will:

Defend a woman’s right to choose and Planned Parenthood
Repeal the Hyde amendment
Pass paid family and medical leave

Expanding Job and Skill Training
Texas is suffering from a serious “skills gap,” meaning we do not have enough skilled workers to fit the job demands of our economy. It is time that we recognize that a four-year college degree isn’t right for everyone. Career and technical education leads to dignified, well-compensated, and stable jobs that drive our economy forward. COVID-19 is shaking many American institutions to their core, but the pandemic is also forcing us to think about and grapple with what comes after. What better time to invest in job training for 21st-century careers in our K-12 schools.

As a former school board trustee, Candace worked to expand vocational and STEM academies in the district’s K-12 schools. Candace knows first hand how this training empowers young workers and benefits the local economy. We need more federal investment in these programs to fill the current skills gap in Texas and across the country.

In Congress, Candace will:

Expand access to skills and vocational training for those who do not go to college
Expand Federal funding to our K-12 schools to allow more schools to implement vocational and STEM training academies

Comprehensive Immigration Reform We need to break through the partisan gridlock in Washington to pass comprehensive immigration reform that honors our nation's history as a nation of immigrants. Candace’s great-grandparents immigrated to the United States from Mexico and her great-grandfather fought in World War I. For generations, her family has been committed to serving our country and many other immigrant families do the same.

Throughout our nation’s history immigrants have provided tremendous value both culturally and economically. In Texas 24, immigrants have more than $5 billion in spending power per year and contribute nearly $2 billion in local, state and federal taxes.

However, our immigrant communities face tremendous adversity due to an antiquated, convoluted immigration process and divisive politicians. In dealing with the millions of people living in this country without documentation, Candace wants to provide a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers—the people brought to the United States as children and know no other home—as well as the rest of our undocumented resident population. We will all benefit from allowing undocumented immigrants to come out of the shadows and further participate in our economy and society as a whole. Candace believes we also need to reform our asylum laws so that asylum cases are just, humane and dealt with in an efficient manner.

A common partisan political argument used by anti-immigrant lawmakers is that immigration leads to crime, but data shows this isn’t true. For immigrants who do commit violent crimes, we should not provide a path to citizenship. However, the overwhelming majority of immigrants are adding tremendous value to our society and have the opportunity to add more if we give them a path to citizenship.

We are a nation of immigrants, and we need to recognize how inclusiveness has been and once again can be one of our greatest strengths.

In Congress, Candace will:

Create a pathway to citizenship
Codify the DREAM Act
Ensure that those crossing our border to seek asylum are treated fairly and humanely
End family separation and make an effort to reunite families separated by the Trump administration.
Stand up against immigration enforcement raids and make sure that local and state police do not have the authority that Federal immigration agents have

Protecting Our Environment
As global temperatures rise, we, as both a nation and as a planet, face the threat of rising sea levels and severe weather events, which are increasing in both frequency and ferocity. Climate change threatens our food production, our livelihoods, and our safety. The world’s leading climatologists have warned us that our chance to reverse the damage will soon pass. Our children could be left with a world shaken by climate-induced instability and without many of the wonders that we have taken for granted for too long.

We need to do everything we can to combat climate change while we still have the chance. We need to focus on investing in renewable energy options, such as solar, wind, and geothermal, while massively reducing our dependence on coal, gas, and oil. Yes, even in Texas we can provide strong incentives for the business community to help combat climate change, alongside a massive investment from the federal government. Part of this investment must establish programs to train and retrain workers for jobs in the renewable energy industry.

While many critics of plans for shifting our society to renewable energy sources and greener infrastructure often attack them as being too expensive, it is absolutely vital to remember that there will be a much greater monetary cost if we fail to halt climate change. As we are hit with increasingly severe weather events, the damage to our cities and towns will also increase, becoming more and more expensive to recover from. As food production suffers, feeding our families will cost more as well. Many people expect fighting climate change to come with serious sacrifice, but an investment made in moving to a more environmentally-friendly society actually means an influx of new jobs for a wide range of workers, more affordable energy, and a newer, safer infrastructure. We have the opportunity to make saving the planet benefit us economically as well as environmentally, and Candace knows we can make it a reality if we work together.

In Congress, Candace will:

Work to make substantive investments in green infrastructure, creating thousands of jobs for TX-24 in the process
Significantly cut our carbon emissions in the next decade
Encourage and provide strong incentives for businesses to help combat climate change

Making Housing Accessible to All
Having lived through a period of homelessness as a child, Candace saw first hand how hard it is to recover from losing a home, and she benefited from programs that helped her family escape homelessness. Today, too many families continue to struggle with homelessness and housing insecurity, and the programs Candace benefitted from aren’t sufficient. Over the last 30 years, rents have gone up while wages have stagnated, and Americans have seen greater and greater portions of their incomes eaten by housing costs.

With our fast-growing population, Texas is facing an affordable housing crisis. Nearly half of Texans spend more than 30% of their household income on housing costs, exceeding the recommended level by experts. The largest obstacle we face is on the supply side, as there are just 30 units available per 100 Extremely Low Income (ELI) renters, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

We are in desperate need of more affordable housing, and we need to remove unnecessary zoning laws that drive up the costs of construction. In the wealthiest nation in the world, Candace believes that no one should be without shelter.

In Congress, Candace will:

Increase our investment in and the supply of housing for middle-class and lower-income families(by making Section 8 housing vouchers an entitlement program; currently only 1 in 5 families eligible for affordable housing under federal rules actually has access to a unit because of affordable housing scarcity, Candace’s plan would tackle housing segregation and combat housing insecurity for families across Texas.
Fight for protections against housing discrimination based on race, sexual orientation, marital status, or gender identity

Preventing Gun Violence
As is the case for far too many Americans, gun violence is a personal issue for Candace. As a mother of two young boys, she does not want to fear sending her children to school. As a former school board trustee, Candace has enacted policies at the local level to make our schools safer. But the inaction on the federal level to enact policies that the majority of Texans and Americans agree on, like universal background checks, ending the gun show loophole, and getting weapons of war off our streets, is unacceptable.

Candace grew up in El Paso and often went to the Walmart where the recent mass shooting occurred. She had friends who were at the Walmart during the shooting, and while they fortunately were not harmed physically, the incident has taken a major toll mentally. We all live under the fear of a mass shooting happening any time we are in public and that must end.

In Congress, Candace will:

Fight to end the gun show loophole and pass red flag laws, pass universal background checks, and an assault weapons ban
Make our schools safer
Stand up to the gun lobby to pass these meaningful and necessary reforms

Protecting and Improving Public Education
As a former school board trustee, Candace knows first hand that our public education system is under attack. Corporate special interests have been undermining public education in favor of alternative models. As an educator, Candace knows that public education delivers the best results on a consistent basis.

We need to view education as an investment in our people. We have the opportunity to educate and train the workers of the 21st century and grow our economy from the middle out, rather than the top down. True opportunity means giving every child the opportunity to learn and grow regardless of their zip code, and allow any one who wants to attend college to do so without being saddled with student debt for years after graduation. But college is not right for everyone, so we also need to invest in job training for 21st century jobs in our K-12 schools. As a former school board trustee, Candace has expanded STEM academies and job training in our schools and our community is already reaping the economic benefits. Candace wants to make those opportunities a reality for all children living in TX-24.

In Congress, Candace will use her experience to:

Fight for universal pre-K, because every child deserves a chance to get ahead. Research has shown time and again that investing in early childhood education not only benefits students, but helps families who are struggling
Invest in our community colleges and vocational programs, because a job that pays the bills and then some should be available to everyone, not just people with a four-year degree
Stand up to Betsy DeVos’s devastating agenda that strips vital funding from our schools
Fight to restore title funding for special needs children
Push to expand the free lunch program
Invest in secure buildings and disaster relief plans for our public schools
Make sure that our kids are happy, whole, and competitive on the world stage by helping schools to fulfill jobs needed to improve our cybersecurity and infrastructure among other highly necessary jobs. If we see a federal benefit to a type of training, we should invest in it
Pay teachers higher salaries so that we can keep more of them in our schools for longer. That also means finding a way to remove their student loan debt

Protecting Medicare and Social Security
Medicare and Social Security provide millions of Texas seniors with critical health care benefits and retirement security. Texans have paid into them and have worked hard to earn these benefits. While Washington politicians threaten to cut these critical programs to finance tax cuts for the very wealthy, Candace is committed to protecting Medicare and Social Security for this generation and the next. Candace knows what it’s like to struggle to pay the bills and afford the high costs of medical care, and she will stand with Texas seniors to make sure our government keeps its promises to them.

In Congress, Candace will:

Oppose all cuts to our seniors’ Medicare and Social Security benefits
Oppose privatization of either program
Work with both parties to ensure both programs are adequately funded for future generations

Protecting Our Democracy and Ending Political Corruption
In the midst of this massive public health and economic crisis, working families in Texas are struggling, and Washington is asleep at the wheel. Dysfunction and corruption in our nation’s capital have left families and small businesses across America in the lurch, all while Wall Street reaps billions in bailout funds. High ranking officials in DC have even used their access to privileged information to game the stock market and make millions off this crisis. But what’s most frustrating? This isn’t a new story. For decades, special interests and dark money have corrupted our system and halted progress on major legislation that strong majorities of Texans agree on and need, from passing common-sense gun violence prevention laws to making prescription drugs more affordable to ensuring increased and equitable funding for our public schools.

Texans deserve representatives who will fight against the dark money flooding into our nation’s capital. That’s why Candace is not taking corporate PAC contributions and is focused on reducing special interest influence in Washington. This will be an uphill battle, but the COVID-19 epidemic has put issues of corruption front and center. Texans are fed up, and it’s time for bold changes to the way business is done in Washington.

In Congress, Candace will:

Work to pass the For the People Act which will address voter access, election integrity, election security, political spending, and ethics for the three branches of government.
Push for comprehensive campaign finance reform, including banning dark money groups from influencing our elections.
Push for a constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United decision that legalized Super PACs.
Ensure that all Texans can exercise their constitutional right to vote by pushing to restore the Voting Rights Act and opposing voter suppression efforts.
Support efforts to end racial and partisan gerrymandering so politicians can no longer hand-pick their constituents
Hold regular town hall meetings in the 24th district so constituents can ensure Candace is held accountable to her promises.
Work to break-up behemoth monopolies that corrupt our government and harm our economy. Currently, monopolies capitalize on weak ethics rules to influence the regulation of the sector of the economy that they dominate. Consumers and small businesses are harmed when monopolists are able to corrupt public processes. Strengthening ethics and anti-corruption rules would limit monopolists’ hold over our democracy and help enable the antitrust and competition policy enforcement necessary to foster truly competitive, fair, and open markets.

Making Healthcare Accessible for Everyone
Candace was in a car accident in high school, resulting in chronic back pain. As a result, after graduating college, Candace was forced to work a second and third job just to afford her health care premiums and deductibles. The cost of the physical therapy, prescription drugs, and ongoing care she needed to get healthy put her into debt. This story is remarkable in that it is increasingly unremarkable: Far too many Americans struggle to afford the care they need, and that’s wrong.

The Affordable Care Act made great progress, but health care access is still far too limited and health care costs continue to skyrocket in the U.S. The U.S. is the only developed nation that does not guarantee its citizens access to health care, and we pay more for our health care and our prescription drugs, per capita, by far. Candace believes that investing in health care for all Americans is not only the morally right thing to do, but it will also save taxpayers money long-term by making workers more productive, increasing preventive care so that we catch illnesses early, and negotiating prescription drug prices down. Candace believes that health care is a human right.

In Congress, Candace will:

Protect and work to expand the Affordable Care Act, which prevents insurance companies from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions, and allows children to stay on their parents’ healthcare plans until they’re 26.
Fight to lower the cost of prescription drugs by allowing Medicare to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies and buy cheap generic drugs from Canada.
Implement a public health care option, which already has broad public support, so that we can expand health care access to the millions who do not have it while making health care more affordable for Americans who are struggling to pay their deductibles and co-pays.
Protect people with pre-existing conditions and crackdown on surprise medical billing.
Push Texas lawmakers to expand Medicaid, this is the biggest immediate action we can take to improve healthcare access and coverage for 1.5 million Texans.
Hold prescription drug companies accountable for price gouging and the role they have played in the opioid crisis.

Addressing Income Inequality and the Shrinking Middle Class
Growing up, Candace’s family struggled with poverty and homelessness. They got back on their feet with the help of affordable housing, food stamps, and public education, but today, those lifelines to opportunity are under attack.

As the cost of living in our country has increased over the last few decades, wages have remained stagnant, putting more and more families in the same position Candace was in as a child. We’ve invested insufficiently in education and job training and the federal minimum wage has not increased in well over a decade, while health care costs regularly send people into bankruptcy, and an entire generation has been crippled by student debt. Many Americans are working two or three jobs just to make enough money to survive.

Candace will fight for Texans who are struggling to get by.

In Congress, Candace will:

Raise the minimum wage to $15/hour
Provide relief to those with crippling student loan debt
Make healthcare more affordable by providing people with a public option to buy into Medicare
Work to expand affordable housing

^[22]

”

—Candace Valenzuela’s campaign website (2020)^[23]

Beth Van Duyne

Van Duyne’s campaign website stated the following:

“

What is an example of how you led a team or group toward achieving an important goal?
Enacting the first ethics policy for the Irving City Council was quite a task. In order for me to be elected Mayor of Irving, I had to first defeat an incumbent whose campaign was literally being financed with more than a million dollars by just one person – that person also happened to be getting paid tens of millions of dollars by the city while not doing any real work on a project he had been contracted to create. Clearly, these kind of payoffs in campaign contributions to city elected officials needed to end and that is why passing the first ethics policy in city history was a key campaign item of mine.

In order to help educate other city council members and earn their support for the ethics policy, I brought in a team from Irving-based Kimberly Clark who had one of the best business ethics policies.

They were able to explain the importance of the creation of such a policy and how each person needed to be part of the development in order for the policy to be meaningful. Understanding that I had some council members who would be opposed to initiating a new policy, I asked a couple of them to chair the development so they would know their contribution was valued and important.

The result was an ethics policy that, for the first time, established term limits for council and Mayor, and prohibited council members from receiving campaign contributions from individuals or businesses doing work with the City as well as established rules of conduct to ensure the people of Irving could feel more confident about the integrity of our elected officials.

Why are you running for this office?
The people of the 24th District deserve to have a representative who is committed to being a strong voice and fierce advocate for them in Washington. While Congress has been focused on nothing but attacking the President, critical issues for the American people are being ignored: lowering the cost of healthcare, stopping the drug cartels and human traffickers from exploiting loopholes on our southern border, passing a much-needed infrastructure bill, and empowering more growth for our hard-working families. We need a U.S. Representative who is focused on delivering solutions and putting progress for the American people ahead of political theater and more Washington nonsense.

Why should voters choose you over your opponent?
I’m honored to have earned the early support of thousands of grassroots voters, numerous elected officials, and job creators throughout the District. This has been possible because folks know my record of being a tireless public servant who has always focused on reforms that empower growth, opportunity, and people over government. When I served as the Mayor of Irving, we were one of the fastest growing cities in the United States for job creation, one of the safest cities for our families and businesses, and we got rid of the corruption and back room deals that were so embarrassing for our city.

People are sick and tired of Congress playing political games and just focusing on attacking each other. Many folks I have been speaking with are deeply troubled by the rise of Socialism we are seeing in America. I promise to be a voice in Congress that is always focused on getting things done to help us grow and create more opportunities for our families future generations.

What political leader do you most admire and why?
Since there was no “alive or dead” qualification on this question, I will say Abraham Lincoln. President Lincoln faced the most existential threat to our then, still young nation and guided our country through devastating circumstances in order to preserve the union, end the practice of slavery, and set America on a course that would have us emerge as a true super power.

The House voted along party lines to impeach President Donald Trump formally accusing him of abusing his office in a scheme to coerce Ukraine to tarnish a political rival then stonewalling Congress by withholding documents. What’s your position on the impeachment?
By voting to impeach President Trump, Democrat leadership of the House of Representatives completely caved to the extremists in their party, who have openly stated they were looking to impeach President Trump from the day he was elected. Despite the near universal cry from House Democrats that the President posed an immediate threat to the United States, Nancy Pelosi has refused to send the articles over to the U.S. Senate thereby exposing another sad example of what a farce and fraud this entire process has been. It is time for Congress to start working on the issues the American people actually care about: lowering the cost of healthcare, stopping the drug cartels and human traffickers from harming more of our citizens, passing an infrastructure bill, and expanding growth so our hard-working families have more job opportunities and higher wages.

A U.S. appeals court recently ruled the “individual mandate” of the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional, but said other aspects of the law require further review. What changes, if any, would you make to this law?
The “Affordable Care Act,” more commonly known as Obamacare, was enacted based on lies, kept afloat through misappropriation of funds, and has done profound damage to the healthcare of Americans. We need to get rid of the regulations that are strangling doctor/patient relationships. Regulations are also preventing lower cost health care options with more comprehensive coverage from being offered to the American people. It is well passed time Congress allowed for Associated Health Care plans where individuals and small businesses can band together in order to have the same purchasing power as corporations and labor unions to select plans that best fit their individual needs.

Additionally, we need to expand the use of health savings accounts, allow people to purchase insurance across state lines, and make healthcare plans portable so they follow the individual. The American people deserve more options, more freedom, and more choice in how they use their precious dollars to pay for their healthcare needs.

What specific criminal justice reforms would you champion?
President Trump is to be applauded for passing the First Step Act which has freed thousands of people from harsh federal sentences. It was also gratifying to see this important legislation passed on a broad, bi-partisan basis.

The need for criminal justice reform that I am hearing about as I talk with voters, especially in Dallas County, is how District Attorneys and prosecutors are systemically pleading down cases or refusing to prosecute cases because they simply do not want to put criminals in jail. By not prosecuting crimes of a violent nature or crimes against others, criminals are released back into our neighborhoods where they commit further crimes because the deterrent has been removed.

We especially need the prosecution of violent crimes in order for those convictions to be registered with the National Instant Criminal Background Check system (NICS) and thereby prevent violent offenders from being able to lawfully purchase firearms

Do you support President Trump’s imposition of tariffs on consumer goods American companies buy from China? If you disagree with these or other tariffs what will you do if elected to address it?
Yes.

What measures, if any, should Congress take to fix asylum laws?
For years, drug cartels and human traffickers have taken advantage of asylum loopholes in order to push masses of illegal immigrants to our Southern Border. These murderous criminal operations market travel to the US and prepare people from El Salvador, Honduras, and other countries with what to say in order to exploit the asylum loopholes.

Along the way, children are kidnapped, girls are sold into sex trafficking, and people are held hostage so the cartels can demand even more payments from the families. This year alone, hundreds of children were identified as being “recycled” as child slaves in order to help adults, to whom they had no familial relation, cross our border because they were a “family unit”. Rather than allow this utterly destructive criminal operation to continue, we should amend asylum laws to state that people seeking asylum must do so from the nearest safe country from where they are leaving.

The “Remain in Mexico” policy is already helping to stop the surges of illegal immigrants claiming asylum and crossing our borders. Additional adjustments are necessary to prevent the cartels from taking further advantage of people and our own broken system.

How should the next Congress address illegal immigration? Please be specific about the millions of people in this country illegally.
It is critical for the next Congress to take border control seriously and deal with the escalating damage drug cartels and human traffickers are causing in communities and to our families. We must stop these murderous organizations from pushing their poison on our children, enslaving countless numbers of young girls, and committing horrifying acts of violence on our sovereign soil. In addition to closing asylum loopholes the cartels exploit, we need to build walls where the border patrol says they are necessary in order to gain operational control and hire more border agents to not only deal with surges of illegal immigrants pushed by the cartels but also to interdict the drug trafficking. In order to secure the interior of the United States, we need to step up relationships with ICE and local law enforcement so more criminal aliens are being targeted, apprehended, and deported.

For those in our country who are not committing crimes or have been in the US since they were children, we should create a pathway to legal status (not citizenship) that would require them to pass a criminal background check and remain crime free, pay fines for breaking our immigration laws, and learn English. Those who honorably serve in our military could be allowed a path to citizenship provided they meet a certain number of years of service and are discharged with a clean service record.

Congress writes the budget for the United States. What is one area that Congress should invest much more heavily in, and why? What should we be spending much less on?
As Mayor of Irving, we passed a balanced budget every year and maintained a AAA bond rating, while maintaining city services and paying our public safety officials. We had to prioritize projects and control debt we took on to make sure we had the funds necessary to service the debt. This is the kind of mindset and experience I would take to Congress.

At a time of record tax receipts and a growing economy, Congress must show broad restraint on federal spending in order to bring down the federal deficit and eventually reduce debt. Additionally, we need to continue to reduce federal regulations which only serve to increase the size of government and make the cost of doing business higher.

What action, if any, should Congress take in response to mass killings involving firearms?
Everyone I have ever spoken with about gun-related crimes and especially events with mass casualties are horrified by those events, disgusted with the evil nature of the people who committed those crimes, and desirous of solutions to stop more violence from occurring. Our goal should be to decrease the number of murders committed by firearms by concentrating on criminals who commit those crimes rather than law-abiding citizens. We need more people like Jack Wilson (the hero who put an immediate end to the White Settlement Church shooting) who are trained, armed, and ready to act to protect our neighbors, families, and children.

There is no real secret to preventing more gun crimes: violent criminals need to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law to put them in jail and prevent them from making a legal purchase; DAs need to get serious about putting violent offenders away; and all convictions of violent offense must be submitted to the NICS database to ensure these offenders cannot purchase firearms in the future.

Additionally, cities, counties, and states may need to fund additional officers to patrol high crime areas to stop the majority of killings in the United States. I would also support new measures that require felony and violent offenses by minors (aged 15-17) to be reported to NICS so those individuals would not be able to legally buy a firearm in the future.

The facts are: violent crime overall is down, the vast majority of gun crimes are committed in a very few counties in the United States, and within those counties gun crimes are more prevalent in certain areas. It is no coincidence that Governor Abbott recently ordered a surge of DPS officers into certain areas of Dallas County and the Mayor of Dallas has created his first task force to deal with gun violence predominating in specific areas.

What is the greatest threat to American security, and how should America respond? What specifically should Congress do to help?
There are two major threats to the United States. Number one is falling behind in advanced technology – whether that is weapons systems, artificial intelligence, Cyber warfare, or in new tactics to wage an asynchronous war against the United States. As such, the greatest threat to the US is posed by China who has expanded their Navy, illegally claimed more territory and jurisdiction over international waters, and continues to openly oppose freedom of speech, free and fair elections, all while operating slave labor camps where people routinely die from exposure.

Congress needs to ensure we are properly funded and focused on emerging technological advances, how those can be weaponized, how we can defend against them and not allow our nation to fall into a technology gap that has us losing a war because we have no concept of how it is being waged and how to counter what an adversary may be doing. For this generation, a technological arms race is occurring right now and our nation needs to be at the leading edge of this race.

The second greatest threat to American security comes from the drug cartels who control routes into the United States, have significant relationships with street gangs, are poisoning a generation of Americans, and damaging untold numbers of lives through human slavery and sex trafficking. We must treat the cartels like foreign terrorist operations and bring far more resources to bear on stopping them.

The House recently passed legislation to restore protections of the Voting Rights Act that were undone when the Supreme Court struck down federal oversight of elections in states with a history of discrimination against minority communities. Do you support this measure? Why or why not?
Since my first election to the Irving city council where I defeated an entrenched and well-funded incumbent, I have always encouraged every citizen to register to vote and exercise that right – their vote is their voice and that vote is a sacred right. I would not be in favor of any House bill that puts the Department of Justice and the bureaucracy of the federal government in charge of Texas elections. The election results of 2018 should be a very clear indicator that there is no systemic or intended voter suppression occurring in our state.

What is your view on the science of man-made climate change? What solutions, if any, do you support to address climate change?
The fact that our climate is changing is undeniable. Indeed it has been changing since the end of the last Ice Age and on a warming trend since the end of the little ice age hundreds of years ago. As a person who believes in conservation and as a former Mayor who had a principal responsibility to ensure the people of Irving had a reliable and sustainable supply of water, I want our country to continue making advances in technology that reduce emissions, have a smaller footprint for energy generation, and contribute to cleaner air, water, and soil.

Given the remarkable transformation in technology, especially here in Texas, that has allowed our country to become nearly energy independent and driven the development of more clean burning natural gas power plants, we are enjoying a period where emissions are reducing and air is cleaner. Certainly, we can do more by supporting the further development of more sources of baseload power. I am particularly interested in next generation nuclear reactors that are smaller, safer, can be sited virtually anywhere and create much less waste. They are emission free and provide the kind of reliable baseload power that wind and solar simply cannot do.

Continuing to move our nation toward strong, reliable energy production that produces less emissions would also help show countries like China and India that there are better ways forward for energy development than more coal plants.

What should be done to address the hundreds of thousands of students in deep student loan debt? Should the responsibility of offering federal student loans be removed from the U.S. Department of Education?

As one of many who paid their way through college with loans and part time jobs, I know how difficult it can be and the stress it can cause. I also know how much I valued it, having paid for it. Ten years after graduating magna cum laude from Cornell University, I was finally able to pay off the last of my student loans. I am incredibly sympathetic to today’s students and what they are facing to pay off the loans they have incurred.

The good news is, we are in one of the best job markets in a very long time for new graduates from high school or college. Which means those with a college degree, especially ones where the degree fits a high demand, will be able to earn higher salaries than students who are unfortunate enough to graduate during a recession or a stagnant growth period. Congress should look to leverage the tight labor market by making changes to tax law that would create Education 401K accounts and encourage employers to use those and match contributions from employees with the purpose of more quickly paying down student debt. Ideally, a tight labor market would then create competition among employers to offer the best Education 401K matching program so they could draw new graduates to their company.

While I am not a fan of the student loan guarantees from the federal government, at present they are necessary for us to continue developing and helping deserving students have access to higher education. However, I would like to see public universities, especially those with large endowments (the UT System has an endowment nearly $31 Billion), start programs where they are investing in their own students and serving as the primary lenders. This will ensure the University has “skin in the game” to not only help the student graduate but also be educated in a degree that will help the student financially.

Finally, at the high school level, we need to be encouraging classes in financial literacy so students make better financial choices. ^[22]

”

—Beth Van Duyne’s campaign website (2020)^[24]

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.^[25]^[26]

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.

2016 presidential results by state House district
District	Obama	Romney	2012 Margin	Clinton	Trump	2016 Margin	Party Control
1	26.82%	72.17%	R+45.3	22.76%	75.13%	R+52.4	R
2	20.93%	77.91%	R+57	17.59%	79.78%	R+62.2	R
3	22.26%	76.65%	R+54.4	21.37%	75.80%	R+54.4	R
4	25.04%	73.93%	R+48.9	22.70%	74.70%	R+52	R
5	23.75%	75.33%	R+51.6	20.20%	77.72%	R+57.5	R
6	28.44%	70.49%	R+42	28.89%	67.98%	R+39.1	R
7	27.14%	71.97%	R+44.8	24.48%	73.09%	R+48.6	R
8	24.96%	74.07%	R+49.1	21.12%	76.63%	R+55.5	R
9	27.47%	71.73%	R+44.3	22.23%	76.13%	R+53.9	R
10	25.56%	73.21%	R+47.7	25.20%	71.62%	R+46.4	R
11	26.75%	72.23%	R+45.5	24.48%	72.79%	R+48.3	R
12	36.06%	62.67%	R+26.6	32.54%	64.35%	R+31.8	R
13	22.71%	76.25%	R+53.5	20.47%	77.18%	R+56.7	R
14	34.77%	62.91%	R+28.1	38.79%	54.03%	R+15.2	R
15	21.79%	76.77%	R+55	28.86%	66.69%	R+37.8	R
16	18.22%	80.76%	R+62.5	18.80%	78.35%	R+59.5	R
17	37.30%	60.79%	R+23.5	33.92%	62.02%	R+28.1	R
18	27.18%	71.69%	R+44.5	23.96%	73.47%	R+49.5	R
19	22.22%	76.79%	R+54.6	17.21%	81.00%	R+63.8	R
20	26.22%	72.13%	R+45.9	25.81%	70.27%	R+44.5	R
21	23.92%	74.97%	R+51.1	21.50%	76.09%	R+54.6	R
22	66.82%	32.57%	D+34.3	65.95%	31.80%	D+34.1	D
23	44.24%	54.56%	R+10.3	40.89%	55.86%	R+15	R
24	25.11%	73.48%	R+48.4	27.42%	68.20%	R+40.8	R
25	28.74%	69.92%	R+41.2	27.55%	69.14%	R+41.6	R
26	35.86%	62.95%	R+27.1	45.81%	50.71%	R+4.9	R
27	68.80%	30.44%	D+38.4	70.03%	27.23%	D+42.8	D
28	34.81%	64.22%	R+29.4	43.01%	53.21%	R+10.2	R
29	35.44%	63.32%	R+27.9	41.21%	54.83%	R+13.6	R
30	30.24%	68.64%	R+38.4	26.80%	70.36%	R+43.6	R
31	61.89%	37.31%	D+24.6	55.47%	42.31%	D+13.2	D
32	41.43%	56.92%	R+15.5	42.04%	53.45%	R+11.4	R
33	26.49%	72.25%	R+45.8	31.27%	64.67%	R+33.4	R
34	54.64%	44.24%	D+10.4	53.40%	43.18%	D+10.2	D
35	66.43%	32.71%	D+33.7	63.43%	33.59%	D+29.8	D
36	74.73%	24.41%	D+50.3	73.70%	23.21%	D+50.5	D
37	69.28%	29.75%	D+39.5	68.98%	27.77%	D+41.2	D
38	66.13%	32.95%	D+33.2	65.76%	30.74%	D+35	D
39	74.02%	25.10%	D+48.9	70.48%	26.40%	D+44.1	D
40	75.32%	23.68%	D+51.6	70.73%	25.91%	D+44.8	D
41	56.64%	42.35%	D+14.3	59.53%	36.87%	D+22.7	D
42	75.54%	23.57%	D+52	73.73%	23.49%	D+50.2	D
43	46.96%	52.09%	R+5.1	43.79%	53.10%	R+9.3	R
44	30.83%	67.97%	R+37.1	30.22%	65.99%	R+35.8	R
45	41.83%	55.19%	R+13.4	44.53%	49.14%	R+4.6	R
46	76.62%	20.14%	D+56.5	78.16%	16.34%	D+61.8	D
47	39.32%	58.05%	R+18.7	46.98%	47.16%	R+0.2	R
48	56.86%	39.56%	D+17.3	65.17%	28.12%	D+37	D
49	70.19%	24.89%	D+45.3	76.63%	16.65%	D+60	D
50	57.79%	38.81%	D+19	63.38%	30.05%	D+33.3	D
51	78.49%	17.43%	D+61.1	79.52%	14.04%	D+65.5	D
52	42.57%	54.91%	R+12.3	46.12%	47.56%	R+1.4	R
53	22.29%	76.50%	R+54.2	20.74%	76.30%	R+55.6	R
54	45.85%	53.04%	R+7.2	44.07%	51.07%	R+7	R
55	33.08%	65.48%	R+32.4	31.96%	63.28%	R+31.3	R
56	29.70%	69.02%	R+39.3	31.16%	64.82%	R+33.7	R
57	25.97%	73.09%	R+47.1	22.50%	75.69%	R+53.2	R
58	21.12%	77.52%	R+56.4	18.84%	77.90%	R+59.1	R
59	21.36%	77.31%	R+56	19.19%	77.44%	R+58.2	R
60	15.70%	83.09%	R+67.4	13.33%	84.19%	R+70.9	R
61	16.19%	82.54%	R+66.3	14.49%	82.74%	R+68.3	R
62	24.72%	73.77%	R+49.1	20.89%	76.05%	R+55.2	R
63	26.39%	72.13%	R+45.7	30.22%	65.26%	R+35	R
64	37.33%	60.30%	R+23	40.00%	54.49%	R+14.5	R
65	40.84%	57.52%	R+16.7	46.51%	48.62%	R+2.1	R
66	37.46%	61.15%	R+23.7	46.24%	49.45%	R+3.2	R
67	37.26%	61.08%	R+23.8	44.69%	50.41%	R+5.7	R
68	17.78%	81.15%	R+63.4	14.23%	83.37%	R+69.1	R
69	23.27%	75.20%	R+51.9	20.26%	76.12%	R+55.9	R
70	29.25%	69.37%	R+40.1	32.82%	62.78%	R+30	R
71	22.84%	75.76%	R+52.9	21.49%	74.23%	R+52.7	R
72	23.33%	75.26%	R+51.9	21.45%	74.81%	R+53.4	R
73	20.22%	78.37%	R+58.2	21.25%	75.11%	R+53.9	R
74	56.99%	41.57%	D+15.4	56.27%	39.58%	D+16.7	D
75	72.33%	26.62%	D+45.7	73.74%	21.38%	D+52.4	D
76	76.91%	21.86%	D+55.1	77.93%	17.86%	D+60.1	D
77	64.07%	34.29%	D+29.8	68.79%	25.97%	D+42.8	D
78	54.41%	44.15%	D+10.3	59.28%	35.16%	D+24.1	D
79	64.73%	34.12%	D+30.6	68.62%	26.73%	D+41.9	D
80	68.25%	30.91%	D+37.3	65.06%	32.31%	D+32.7	D
81	24.20%	74.66%	R+50.5	26.33%	70.49%	R+44.2	R
82	19.38%	79.31%	R+59.9	20.58%	75.76%	R+55.2	R
83	21.27%	77.50%	R+56.2	19.94%	76.49%	R+56.5	R
84	34.95%	63.28%	R+28.3	35.12%	59.58%	R+24.5	R
85	37.99%	61.03%	R+23	41.09%	56.10%	R+15	R
86	16.18%	82.55%	R+66.4	16.16%	80.17%	R+64	R
87	22.12%	76.56%	R+54.4	21.74%	74.43%	R+52.7	R
88	19.06%	79.89%	R+60.8	16.48%	80.59%	R+64.1	R
89	31.79%	66.67%	R+34.9	36.08%	59.03%	R+23	R
90	73.70%	25.21%	D+48.5	74.97%	21.48%	D+53.5	D
91	30.45%	67.90%	R+37.5	32.14%	63.08%	R+30.9	R
92	37.22%	61.08%	R+23.9	40.54%	54.66%	R+14.1	R
93	38.26%	60.21%	R+21.9	40.40%	54.84%	R+14.4	R
94	38.10%	60.29%	R+22.2	40.87%	54.30%	R+13.4	R
95	76.11%	22.99%	D+53.1	74.24%	22.89%	D+51.4	D
96	40.22%	58.60%	R+18.4	42.55%	53.74%	R+11.2	R
97	38.92%	59.59%	R+20.7	42.59%	52.42%	R+9.8	R
98	23.57%	75.01%	R+51.4	28.91%	66.33%	R+37.4	R
99	30.70%	67.69%	R+37	32.12%	63.36%	R+31.2	R
100	77.89%	21.07%	D+56.8	77.24%	19.30%	D+57.9	D
101	64.01%	34.87%	D+29.1	66.06%	30.36%	D+35.7	D
102	45.32%	53.02%	R+7.7	52.27%	42.74%	D+9.5	R
103	69.87%	28.77%	D+41.1	73.55%	22.33%	D+51.2	D
104	72.70%	26.36%	D+46.3	75.60%	20.85%	D+54.7	D
105	46.48%	52.14%	R+5.7	52.13%	43.60%	D+8.5	R
106	30.86%	67.69%	R+36.8	35.83%	59.70%	R+23.9	R
107	46.89%	51.83%	R+4.9	52.37%	43.40%	D+9	D
108	39.31%	58.99%	R+19.7	50.32%	44.01%	D+6.3	R
109	81.75%	17.68%	D+64.1	81.55%	16.42%	D+65.1	D
110	88.74%	10.77%	D+78	86.76%	11.25%	D+75.5	D
111	77.24%	22.06%	D+55.2	77.40%	20.17%	D+57.2	D
112	43.50%	55.03%	R+11.5	48.28%	47.10%	D+1.2	R
113	46.31%	52.53%	R+6.2	49.13%	47.23%	D+1.9	R
114	43.48%	55.23%	R+11.7	52.14%	43.21%	D+8.9	R
115	43.23%	55.27%	R+12	51.54%	43.64%	D+7.9	R
116	60.53%	37.80%	D+22.7	63.73%	31.10%	D+32.6	D
117	51.99%	46.85%	D+5.1	53.23%	42.14%	D+11.1	D
118	55.33%	43.41%	D+11.9	55.58%	40.41%	D+15.2	D
119	60.26%	38.58%	D+21.7	60.13%	36.08%	D+24.1	D
120	64.75%	34.11%	D+30.6	63.51%	32.10%	D+31.4	D
121	37.61%	60.88%	R+23.3	43.42%	51.69%	R+8.3	R
122	30.87%	67.87%	R+37	37.75%	57.87%	R+20.1	R
123	61.36%	36.80%	D+24.6	65.02%	30.27%	D+34.7	D
124	60.94%	37.65%	D+23.3	62.19%	33.04%	D+29.1	D
125	59.11%	39.59%	D+19.5	61.62%	33.69%	D+27.9	D
126	36.72%	62.08%	R+25.4	43.00%	52.94%	R+9.9	R
127	29.60%	69.21%	R+39.6	34.90%	61.23%	R+26.3	R
128	26.59%	72.37%	R+45.8	28.77%	68.15%	R+39.4	R
129	33.88%	64.47%	R+30.6	40.06%	55.33%	R+15.3	R
130	22.81%	75.91%	R+53.1	27.96%	68.06%	R+40.1	R
131	83.65%	15.69%	D+68	84.29%	13.35%	D+70.9	D
132	39.77%	58.92%	R+19.2	45.68%	50.04%	R+4.4	R
133	30.41%	68.14%	R+37.7	41.12%	54.52%	R+13.4	R
134	41.74%	56.39%	R+14.7	55.09%	39.61%	D+15.5	R
135	39.86%	58.83%	R+19	46.82%	48.89%	R+2.1	R
136	41.43%	55.34%	R+13.9	47.69%	45.16%	D+2.5	R
137	63.91%	34.49%	D+29.4	67.00%	28.92%	D+38.1	D
138	39.30%	59.18%	R+19.9	47.85%	47.78%	D+0.1	R
139	75.62%	23.61%	D+52	76.12%	20.61%	D+55.5	D
140	70.10%	28.98%	D+41.1	75.09%	21.87%	D+53.2	D
141	87.41%	12.07%	D+75.3	85.19%	12.59%	D+72.6	D
142	77.41%	21.97%	D+55.4	76.20%	20.97%	D+55.2	D
143	67.18%	31.86%	D+35.3	71.02%	26.02%	D+45	D
144	50.77%	47.88%	D+2.9	57.75%	38.37%	D+19.4	D
145	60.26%	38.28%	D+22	66.92%	28.72%	D+38.2	D
146	78.82%	20.05%	D+58.8	79.43%	17.32%	D+62.1	D
147	78.07%	20.30%	D+57.8	78.99%	16.78%	D+62.2	D
148	56.59%	41.08%	D+15.5	63.82%	30.50%	D+33.3	D
149	58.76%	40.12%	D+18.6	64.25%	32.50%	D+31.8	D
150	30.28%	68.55%	R+38.3	36.63%	59.18%	R+22.6	R
Total	41.40%	57.19%	R+15.8	43.48%	52.53%	R+9.1	-
Source: Daily Kos

Candidate ballot access

The table below details filing requirements for 24th 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	24th Congressional District	Democratic or Republican	N/A	N/A	$3,125.00	Fixed number	12/9/2019	Source
Texas	24th 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' 24th Congressional District election, 2018

General election

General election for U.S. House Texas District 24

Incumbent Kenny Marchant defeated Jan McDowell and Mike Kolls in the general election for U.S. House Texas District 24 on November 6, 2018.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Kenny Marchant (R)	50.6	133,317
	Jan McDowell (D)	47.5	125,231
	Mike Kolls (L)	1.8	4,870

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 263,418
= 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 24

Jan McDowell defeated John Biggan, Edward Allen, and Joshua Andrew Imhoff in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 24 on March 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jan McDowell	52.5	14,551
		John Biggan	21.5	5,970
	Submit photo	Edward Allen	20.0	5,556
		Joshua Andrew Imhoff	6.0	1,663

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 27,740
= 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 24

Incumbent Kenny Marchant defeated Johnathan Davidson in the Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 24 on March 6, 2018.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Kenny Marchant	74.4	30,310
	Johnathan Davidson	25.6	10,425

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 40,735
= 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' 24th Congressional District election, 2016

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Republican. Incumbent Kenny Marchant (R) defeated Jan McDowell (D), Mike Kolls (L) and Kevin McCormick (G) in the general election on November 8, 2016. No candidates faced any primary opposition on March 1, 2016.^[27]^[28]

**U.S. House, Texas District 24 General Election, 2016**
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Kenny Marchant Incumbent	56.2%	154,845
	Democratic	Jan McDowell	39.3%	108,389
	Libertarian	Mike Kolls	3.1%	8,625
	Green	Kevin McCormick	1.4%	3,776
Total Votes				275,635
Source: Texas Secretary of State

2014

See also: Texas' 24th Congressional District elections, 2014

The 24th Congressional District of Texas held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Kenny Marchant (R) defeated Patrick McGehearty (D) and Mike Kolls (L) in the general election.

**U.S. House, Texas District 24 General Election, 2014**
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Kenny Marchant Incumbent	65%	93,712
	Democratic	Patrick McGehearty	32.3%	46,548
	Libertarian	Mike Kolls	2.6%	3,813
Total Votes				144,073
Source: Texas Secretary of State

State profile

See also: Texas and Texas elections, 2019

Partisan data

The information in this section was current as of January 22, 2020

Presidential voting pattern

Texas voted Republican in all seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

Congressional delegation

Following the 2018 elections, both U.S. senators from Texas were Republicans.
Twenty-three of Texas' 36 U.S. representatives were Republicans and 13 were Democrats.

State executives

Republicans held six of Texas' nine state executive offices. The other three offices were nonpartisan.
Texas' governor was Republican Greg Abbott.

State legislature

Republicans controlled the Texas State Senate with a 19-12 majority.
Republicans controlled the Texas House of Representatives with a 83-67 majority.

Texas Party Control: 1992-2025
Three years of Democratic trifectas • Twenty-three years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25
Governor	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
Senate	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
House	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R

Texas quick stats

Became a state in 1845
28th state admitted to the United States
Texas was an independent republic from 1836 to 1845
Members of the Texas State Senate: 31
Members of the Texas House of Representatives: 150
U.S. senators: 2
U.S. representatives: 36

More Texas coverage on Ballotpedia:

Texas elections, 2019
Presidential voting trends in Texas
United States congressional delegations from Texas
Public policy in Texas
Influencers in Texas
Almanac of American Politics state profile
More...

Demographic data for Texas
	Texas	U.S.
Total population:	27,429,639	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	261,232	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	74.9%	73.6%
Black/African American:	11.9%	12.6%
Asian:	4.2%	5.1%
Native American:	0.5%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0.1%	0.2%
Two or more:	2.5%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	38.4%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	81.9%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	27.6%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$53,207	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	19.9%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Texas. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

External links

Search Google News for this topic

Footnotes

↑ DCCC, "DCCC Chairwoman Cheri Bustos Adds Six Candidates to DCCC ‘Red To Blue’ Program," July 16, 2020
↑ NRCC, "McCarthy Announces Seven “Young Guns” in Final Phase of Young Guns Program," April 14, 2020
↑ DCCC, "DCCC Chairwoman Cheri Bustos Adds Six Candidates to DCCC ‘Red To Blue’ Program," July 16, 2020
↑ Business Insider, "Everything you need to know about Texas' 24th Congressional District House race between Beth Van Duyne and Candace Valenzuela," August 28, 2020
↑ Texas Redistricting Map, "Map," accessed July 24, 2012
↑ Candidate Connection surveys completed before September 26, 2019, were not used to generate candidate profiles. In battleground primaries, Ballotpedia based its selection of noteworthy candidates on polling, fundraising, and noteworthy endorsements. In battleground general elections, all major party candidates and any other candidates with the potential to impact the outcome of the race were included.
↑ Cook Political Report, "Introducing the 2017 Cook Political Report Partisan Voter Index," April 7, 2017
↑ FiveThirtyEight, "Election Update: The Most (And Least) Elastic States And Districts," September 6, 2018
↑ Inside Elections also uses Tilt ratings to indicate an even smaller advantage and greater competitiveness.
↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Nathan Gonzalez," April 19, 2018
↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Kyle Kondik," April 19, 2018
↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Charlie Cook," April 22, 2018
↑ ^13.0 ^13.1 The Dallas Morning News, "We recommend: A list of all our candidate recommendations for the general election," October 9, 2020
↑ ^14.0 ^14.1 Fort Worth Star-Telegram, "Our recommendation for suburban Fort Worth voters in hottest Texas congressional race," October 16, 2020
↑ ^15.0 ^15.1 ^15.2 ^15.3 Candace Valenzuela's 2020 campaign website, "Endorsements," accessed October 1, 2020
↑ Beth Van Duyne's 2020 campaign website, "Endorsements," accessed October 1, 2020
↑ Twitter, "Dave Wasserman on November 2, 2020," accessed November 2, 2020
↑ Twitter, "Jacob Rubashkin on October 28, 2020," accessed October 29, 2020
↑ Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball, "2020 Rating Changes," accessed October 1, 2020
↑ U.S. Term Limits, "TX-24 POLL: IF VALENZUELA STRESSES TERM LIMITS, SHE’LL BEAT VAN DUYNE," August 6, 2020
↑ House Majority PAC, "TX-24_poll," August 6, 2020
↑ ^22.0 ^22.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
↑ Candace Valenzuela’s campaign website, “Issues,” accessed October 1, 2020
↑ Beth Van Duyne’s campaign website, “Beth VanDuyne 2020 – DMN Primary Questionnaire – 1-10-20,” accessed October 1, 2020
↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' statewide election results by congressional and legislative districts," July 9, 2013
↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' 2016 presidential results for congressional and legislative districts," February 6, 2017
↑ Texas Secretary of State, "2016 March Primary Election Candidate Filings by County," accessed December 15, 2015
↑ The New York Times, "Texas Primary Results," March 1, 2016

[show]

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)

[1] DCCC, "DCCC Chairwoman Cheri Bustos Adds Six Candidates to DCCC ‘Red To Blue’ Program," July 16, 2020

[2] NRCC, "McCarthy Announces Seven “Young Guns” in Final Phase of Young Guns Program," April 14, 2020

[3] DCCC, "DCCC Chairwoman Cheri Bustos Adds Six Candidates to DCCC ‘Red To Blue’ Program," July 16, 2020

[4] Business Insider, "Everything you need to know about Texas' 24th Congressional District House race between Beth Van Duyne and Candace Valenzuela," August 28, 2020

[5] Texas Redistricting Map, "Map," accessed July 24, 2012

[6] Candidate Connection surveys completed before September 26, 2019, were not used to generate candidate profiles. In battleground primaries, Ballotpedia based its selection of noteworthy candidates on polling, fundraising, and noteworthy endorsements. In battleground general elections, all major party candidates and any other candidates with the potential to impact the outcome of the race were included.

[7] Cook Political Report, "Introducing the 2017 Cook Political Report Partisan Voter Index," April 7, 2017

[8] FiveThirtyEight, "Election Update: The Most (And Least) Elastic States And Districts," September 6, 2018

[9] Inside Elections also uses Tilt ratings to indicate an even smaller advantage and greater competitiveness.

[10] Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Nathan Gonzalez," April 19, 2018

[11] Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Kyle Kondik," April 19, 2018

[12] Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Charlie Cook," April 22, 2018

[dal-13] 13.0 ^13.1 The Dallas Morning News, "We recommend: A list of all our candidate recommendations for the general election," October 9, 2020

[star-14] 14.0 ^14.1 Fort Worth Star-Telegram, "Our recommendation for suburban Fort Worth voters in hottest Texas congressional race," October 16, 2020

[valend-15] 15.0 ^15.1 ^15.2 ^15.3 Candace Valenzuela's 2020 campaign website, "Endorsements," accessed October 1, 2020

[16] Beth Van Duyne's 2020 campaign website, "Endorsements," accessed October 1, 2020

[17] Twitter, "Dave Wasserman on November 2, 2020," accessed November 2, 2020

[18] Twitter, "Jacob Rubashkin on October 28, 2020," accessed October 29, 2020

[19] Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball, "2020 Rating Changes," accessed October 1, 2020

[20] U.S. Term Limits, "TX-24 POLL: IF VALENZUELA STRESSES TERM LIMITS, SHE’LL BEAT VAN DUYNE," August 6, 2020

[21] House Majority PAC, "TX-24_poll," August 6, 2020

[quotedisclaimer-22] 22.0 ^22.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.

[23] Candace Valenzuela’s campaign website, “Issues,” accessed October 1, 2020

[24] Beth Van Duyne’s campaign website, “Beth VanDuyne 2020 – DMN Primary Questionnaire – 1-10-20,” accessed October 1, 2020

[25] Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' statewide election results by congressional and legislative districts," July 9, 2013

[26] Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' 2016 presidential results for congressional and legislative districts," February 6, 2017

[27] Texas Secretary of State, "2016 March Primary Election Candidate Filings by County," accessed December 15, 2015

[primaryresults16-28] The New York Times, "Texas Primary Results," March 1, 2016

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[25]

[26]

[27]

[28]

Texas' 24th Congressional District election, 2020

Post-election analysis

Election procedure changes in 2020

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for U.S. House Texas District 24

Democratic primary runoff election

Democratic primary runoff for U.S. House Texas District 24

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 24

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 24

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for U.S. House Texas District 24

Candidate profiles

Candidate Conversations

Polls

Campaign finance

District analysis

Race ratings

Noteworthy endorsements

Timeline

2020

November

October

September

August

Campaign advertisements

Candace Valenzuela

Beth Van Duyne

Satellite group ads

Campaign themes

Candace Valenzuela

Beth Van Duyne

Pivot Counties

Presidential results by legislative district

Candidate ballot access

District election history

2018

General election

General election for U.S. House Texas District 24

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 24

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 24

2016

2014

State profile

Partisan data

See also

External links

Footnotes

Information about voting

2025 Elections

2026 Elections

2024 Election analysis

Trending

Public Policy

Information for candidates

Get Engaged

Services

Additional analysis

SITE NAVIGATION