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Texas' 36th Congressional District election, 2020

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2022
2018
Texas' 36th Congressional District
Ballotpedia Election Coverage Badge.png
Democratic primary
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:
Brian Babin (Republican)
How to vote
Poll times: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Voting in Texas
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Solid Republican
Inside Elections: Solid Republican
Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Republican
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds
U.S. House battlegrounds
Federal and state primary competitiveness
Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2020
See also
Texas' 36th Congressional District
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Texas elections, 2020
U.S. Congress elections, 2020
U.S. Senate elections, 2020
U.S. House elections, 2020

All U.S. congressional districts, including the 36th Congressional District of Texas, held elections in 2020.

Incumbent Brian Babin won election in the general election for U.S. House Texas District 36.

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


Heading into the election the incumbent was Republican Brian Babin, who was first elected in 2014.

Texas' 36th Congressional District is located in the far eastern portion of the state and includes Hardin, Jasper, Liberty, Newton, Orange, Polk, and Tyler counties. Portions of Chambers and Harris counties also lie within district boundaries.[1]

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' 36th Congressional District, 2020
Race Presidential U.S. House
Democratic candidate Democratic Party 26.9 24.3
Republican candidate Republican Party 71.9 73.6
Difference 45 49.3

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 36

Incumbent Brian Babin defeated Rashad Lewis, Chad Abbey, and Hal Ridley in the general election for U.S. House Texas District 36 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Brian Babin
Brian Babin (R)
 
73.6
 
222,712
Image of Rashad Lewis
Rashad Lewis (D)
 
24.3
 
73,418
Image of Chad Abbey
Chad Abbey (L)
 
1.6
 
4,848
Image of Hal Ridley
Hal Ridley (G)
 
0.5
 
1,571

Total votes: 302,549
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 36

Rashad Lewis advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 36 on March 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Rashad Lewis
Rashad Lewis
 
100.0
 
22,422

Total votes: 22,422
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 36

Incumbent Brian Babin defeated RJ Boatman in the Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 36 on March 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Brian Babin
Brian Babin
 
89.6
 
75,277
Image of RJ Boatman
RJ Boatman Candidate Connection
 
10.4
 
8,774

Total votes: 84,051
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Green convention

Green convention for U.S. House Texas District 36

Hal Ridley advanced from the Green convention for U.S. House Texas District 36 on April 18, 2020.

Candidate
Image of Hal Ridley
Hal Ridley (G)

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for U.S. House Texas District 36

Chad Abbey advanced from the Libertarian convention for U.S. House Texas District 36 on March 21, 2020.

Candidate
Image of Chad Abbey
Chad Abbey (L)

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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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.[2][3]

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

District analysis

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

The 2017 Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+26, meaning that in the previous two presidential elections, this district's results were 26 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Texas' 36th Congressional District the 15th most Republican nationally.[4]

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 1.00. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 1.00 points toward that party.[5]

Campaign finance

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

Name Party Receipts* Disbursements** Cash on hand Date
Brian Babin Republican Party $1,359,032 $1,310,866 $785,081 As of December 31, 2020
Rashad Lewis Democratic Party $21,714 $12,278 $10,813 As of December 4, 2020
Hal Ridley Green Party $0 $0 $0 Data not available***
Chad Abbey Libertarian Party $0 $0 $0 Data not available***

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.
*** Candidate either did not report any receipts or disbursements to the FEC, or Ballotpedia did not find an FEC candidate ID.

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.[6]
  • 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.[7][8][9]

Race ratings: Texas' 36th Congressional District election, 2020
Race trackerRace ratings
November 3, 2020October 27, 2020October 20, 2020October 13, 2020
The Cook Political ReportSolid RepublicanSolid RepublicanSolid RepublicanSolid Republican
Inside Elections with Nathan L. GonzalesSolid RepublicanSolid RepublicanSolid RepublicanSolid Republican
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal BallSafe RepublicanSafe RepublicanSafe RepublicanSafe Republican
Note: Ballotpedia updates external race ratings every week throughout the election season.

Candidate ballot access

The table below details filing requirements for 36th 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 36th Congressional District Democratic or Republican N/A N/A $3,125.00 Fixed number 12/9/2019 Source
Texas 36th 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' 36th Congressional District election, 2018

General election

General election for U.S. House Texas District 36

Incumbent Brian Babin defeated Dayna Steele in the general election for U.S. House Texas District 36 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Brian Babin
Brian Babin (R)
 
72.6
 
161,048
Image of Dayna Steele
Dayna Steele (D) Candidate Connection
 
27.4
 
60,908

Total votes: 221,956
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 36

Dayna Steele defeated Jonathan A. Powell in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 36 on March 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Dayna Steele
Dayna Steele Candidate Connection
 
72.0
 
9,848
Image of Jonathan A. Powell
Jonathan A. Powell
 
28.0
 
3,827

Total votes: 13,675
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 36

Incumbent Brian Babin advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 36 on March 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Brian Babin
Brian Babin
 
100.0
 
50,317

Total votes: 50,317
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2016

See also: Texas' 36th Congressional District election, 2016

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Republican. Incumbent Brian Babin (R) defeated Hal Ridley Jr. (G) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Babin faced no challenger in the Republican primary on March 1, 2016, and no Democratic candidates filed to run in the race.[10][11]

U.S. House, Texas District 36 General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngBrian Babin Incumbent 88.6% 193,675
     Green Hal Ridley Jr. 11.4% 24,890
Total Votes 218,565
Source: Texas Secretary of State

2014

See also: Texas' 36th Congressional District elections, 2014

The 36th Congressional District of Texas held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Brian Babin (R) defeated Michael Cole (D), Rodney Veach (L) and Hal Ridley Jr. (G) in the general election.

U.S. House, Texas District 36 General Election, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngBrian Babin 76% 101,663
     Democratic Michael Cole 22.1% 29,543
     Libertarian Rodney Veach 1.5% 1,951
     Green Hal Ridley Jr. 0.5% 685
Total Votes 133,842
Source: Texas Secretary of State

See also

External links

Footnotes


Senators
Representatives
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
Al Green (D)
District 10
District 11
District 12
District 13
District 14
District 15
District 16
District 17
District 18
Vacant
District 19
District 20
District 21
Chip Roy (R)
District 22
District 23
District 24
District 25
District 26
District 27
District 28
District 29
District 30
District 31
District 32
District 33
District 34
District 35
District 36
District 37
District 38
Republican Party (27)
Democratic Party (12)
Vacancies (1)