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Texas' 5th Congressional District election, 2020

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2022
2018
Texas' 5th Congressional District
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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:
Lance Gooden (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' 5th 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 5th Congressional District of Texas, held elections in 2020.

Incumbent Lance Gooden won election in the general election for U.S. House Texas District 5.

Watch the Candidate Conversation for this race!

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


Heading into the election the incumbent was Republican Lance Gooden, who was first elected in 2018.

Texas' 5th Congressional District is located in the northeastern portion of the state. The district includes Anderson, Cherokee, Henderson, Kaufman, and Van Zandt counties and parts of Dallas and Wood counties.[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' 5th Congressional District, 2020
Race Presidential U.S. House
Democratic candidate Democratic Party 37.9 35.9
Republican candidate Republican Party 60.9 62
Difference 23 26.1

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 5

Incumbent Lance Gooden defeated Carolyn Salter and Kevin Hale in the general election for U.S. House Texas District 5 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Lance Gooden
Lance Gooden (R)
 
62.0
 
173,836
Image of Carolyn Salter
Carolyn Salter (D) Candidate Connection
 
35.9
 
100,743
Image of Kevin Hale
Kevin Hale (L) Candidate Connection
 
2.1
 
5,834

Total votes: 280,413
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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Watch the Candidate Conversation for this race!

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 5

Carolyn Salter advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 5 on March 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Carolyn Salter
Carolyn Salter Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
34,641

Total votes: 34,641
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 5

Incumbent Lance Gooden defeated Don Hill in the Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 5 on March 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Lance Gooden
Lance Gooden
 
83.4
 
57,253
Image of Don Hill
Don Hill Candidate Connection
 
16.6
 
11,372

Total votes: 68,625
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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Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for U.S. House Texas District 5

Kevin Hale advanced from the Libertarian convention for U.S. House Texas District 5 on March 21, 2020.

Candidate
Image of Kevin Hale
Kevin Hale (L) Candidate Connection

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+16, meaning that in the previous two presidential elections, this district's results were 16 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Texas' 5th Congressional District the 72nd 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 0.91. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 0.91 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
Lance Gooden Republican Party $1,610,327 $1,311,983 $452,535 As of December 31, 2020
Carolyn Salter Democratic Party $318,998 $290,262 $28,736 As of December 31, 2020
Kevin Hale Libertarian Party $18,490 $10,317 $7,955 As of December 31, 2020

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

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

Race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods

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

  • Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
  • Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
  • Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.[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' 5th 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 5th 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 5th Congressional District Democratic or Republican N/A N/A $3,125.00 Fixed number 12/9/2019 Source
Texas 5th 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' 5th Congressional District election, 2018

General election

General election for U.S. House Texas District 5

Lance Gooden defeated Dan Wood in the general election for U.S. House Texas District 5 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Lance Gooden
Lance Gooden (R)
 
62.3
 
130,617
Image of Dan Wood
Dan Wood (D)
 
37.5
 
78,666
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.1
 
224

Total votes: 209,507
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 runoff election

Republican primary runoff for U.S. House Texas District 5

Lance Gooden defeated Bunni Pounds in the Republican primary runoff for U.S. House Texas District 5 on May 22, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Lance Gooden
Lance Gooden
 
53.1
 
23,294
Image of Bunni Pounds
Bunni Pounds
 
46.9
 
20,542

Total votes: 43,836
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 5

Dan Wood advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 5 on March 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Dan Wood
Dan Wood
 
100.0
 
16,923

Total votes: 16,923
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 5

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 5 on March 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Lance Gooden
Lance Gooden
 
30.0
 
17,551
Image of Bunni Pounds
Bunni Pounds
 
21.9
 
12,851
Image of Sam Deen
Sam Deen
 
17.2
 
10,051
Image of Kenneth Sheets
Kenneth Sheets
 
12.0
 
7,024
Image of Jason Wright
Jason Wright
 
11.4
 
6,690
Danny Campbell
 
3.0
 
1,770
Image of David Williams
David Williams
 
2.7
 
1,601
Image of Charles Lingerfelt
Charles Lingerfelt
 
1.7
 
1,022

Total votes: 58,560
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' 5th Congressional District election, 2016

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Republican. Incumbent Jeb Hensarling (R) defeated Ken Ashby (L) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Hensarling also faced no challenger in the Republican primary on March 1, 2016.[10][11]

U.S. House, Texas District 5 General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngJeb Hensarling Incumbent 80.6% 155,469
     Libertarian Ken Ashby 19.4% 37,406
Total Votes 192,875
Source: Texas Secretary of State

2014

See also: Texas' 5th Congressional District elections, 2014

The 5th Congressional District of Texas held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Jeb Hensarling (R) defeated Ken Ashby (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, Texas District 5 General Election, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngJeb Hensarling Incumbent 85.4% 88,998
     Libertarian Ken Ashby 14.6% 15,264
Total Votes 104,262
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)