Texas' 34th Congressional District
| Texas' 34th Congressional District |
|---|
 |
| Incumbent Filemon Vela  Cook Partisan Voter Index (2018): D+10 |
| U.S. Census Bureau (2010 data)[1] |
| Population: 702,624 |
| Gender: 51.2% Female, 48.8% Male |
| Race[2]: 89.6% White, 1.5% Black |
| Ethnicity: 82.6% Hispanic |
| Unemployment: 10.7% |
| Median household income $32,333 |
| High school graduation rate 64.6% |
| College graduation rate 13.4% |
Texas' 34th Congressional District is located in the southern portion of the state and includes Bee, Cameron, DeWitt, Goliad, Jim Wells, Kenedy, Kleberg, and Willacy counties and portions of Gonzales, Hidalgo, and San Patricio counties.[3] This district was created during the redistricting cycle that followed the 2010 Census.
The current representative of the 34th Congressional District is Filemon Vela (D).
Elections
2020
General election candidates
- Filemon Vela (Incumbent) (Democratic Party) ✔
- Rey Gonzalez Jr. (Republican Party)
- Anthony Cristo (Libertarian Party)
- Chris Royal (Independent)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
Democratic primary candidates
- Filemon Vela (Incumbent) ✔
- Osbert Haro III
- Diego Zavala
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
Republican primary candidates
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
Third Party convention candidates
2018
General election for U.S. House Texas District 34
Incumbent Filemon Vela defeated Rey Gonzalez Jr. in the general election for U.S. House Texas District 34 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate |
% |
Votes |
||
| ✔ |
|
Filemon Vela (D) |
60.0
|
85,825 |
|
|
Rey Gonzalez Jr. (R) |
40.0
|
57,243 | |
|
|
Total votes: 143,068 |
Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 34
Incumbent Filemon Vela advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 34 on March 6, 2018.
Candidate |
% |
Votes |
||
| ✔ |
|
Filemon Vela |
100.0
|
25,344 |
|
|
Total votes: 25,344 |
Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 34
Rey Gonzalez Jr. advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 34 on March 6, 2018.
Candidate |
% |
Votes |
||
| ✔ |
|
Rey Gonzalez Jr. |
100.0
|
10,227 |
|
|
Total votes: 10,227 |
2016
Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Democratic. Incumbent Filemon Vela (D) defeated Rey Gonzalez Jr. (R) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Vela faced no opposition in the Democratic primary on March 1, 2016, while Gonzalez defeated William "Willie" Vaden to win the Republican nomination.[4][5]
| U.S. House, Texas District 34 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Filemon Vela Incumbent |
62.7% | 104,638 | |
| Republican | Rey Gonzalez Jr. | 37.3% | 62,323 | |
| Total Votes | 166,961 | |||
| Source: Texas Secretary of State | ||||
| U.S. House, Texas District 34 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
|
Rey Gonzalez Jr. |
50.6% | 12,532 | ||
| William Vaden | 49.4% | 12,253 | ||
| Total Votes | 24,785 | |||
| Source: Texas Secretary of State |
||||
2014
The 34th Congressional District of Texas held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Filemon Vela (D) defeated Larry Smith (R) and Ryan Rowley (L) in the general election.
| U.S. House, Texas District 34 General Election, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Filemon Vela Incumbent |
59.5% | 47,503 | |
| Republican | Larry Smith | 38.6% | 30,811 | |
| Libertarian | Ryan Rowley | 2% | 1,563 | |
| Total Votes | 79,877 | |||
| Source: Texas Secretary of State | ||||
2012
The 34th Congressional District of Texas held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012, in which Filemon Vela (D) won election. He defeated Jessica Puente Bradshaw (R) and Steven Shanklin (L) in the general election.[6]
| U.S. House, Texas District 34 General Election, 2012 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Filemon Vela |
61.9% | 89,606 | |
| Republican | Jessica Puente Bradshaw | 36.2% | 52,448 | |
| Libertarian | Steven Shanklin | 1.9% | 2,724 | |
| Total Votes | 144,778 | |||
| Source: Texas Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" | ||||
Redistricting
- See also: Redistricting in Texas
Following the 2010 United States Census, Texas gained four congressional seats. Texas' final congressional redistricting plan was approved by the Texas Legislature and signed by Gov. Rick Perry (R) in June 2013.[7][8][9]
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 D+10, meaning that in the previous two presidential elections, this district's results were 10 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made Texas' 34th Congressional District the 119th most Democratic nationally.[10]
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.[11]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Demographic data were added to this page in 2013. Ballotpedia will update this page in 2021 after data from the 2020 Census become available.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Texas Redistricting Map, "Map," accessed July 24, 2012
- ↑ 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
- ↑ Politico, "2012 Election Map, Texas," November 6, 2012
- ↑ All About Redistricting, "Texas," accessed May 7, 2015
- ↑ All About Redistricting, "Litigation in the 2010 cycle, Texas," accessed May 7, 2015
- ↑ Barone, M. & McCutcheon, C. (2013). The almanac of American politics 2014 : the senators, the representatives and the governors : their records and election results, their states and districts. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
- ↑ 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
