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Texas' 23rd Congressional District election, 2020 (March 3 Democratic primary)
- Primary date: March 3
- Primary type: Open
- Registration deadline(s): Feb. 3
- Online registration: No
- Same-day registration: No
- Early voting starts: Feb. 18
- Absentee/mail voting deadline(s): March 3 (postmarked); March 4 (received)
- Voter ID: Photo ID
- Poll times: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
A Democratic Party primary took place on March 3, 2020, in Texas' 23rd Congressional District to determine which Democratic candidate would run in the district's general election on November 3, 2020.
Gina Ortiz Jones advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 23.
| Candidate filing deadline | Primary election | General election |
|---|---|---|
Heading into the election, the incumbent was Will Hurd (Republican), who was first elected in 2014.
A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Texas utilizes an open primary system. Voters do not have to register with a party in advance in order to participate in that party's primary. The voter must sign a pledge stating the following (the language below is taken directly from state statutes)[1]
| “ | The following pledge shall be placed on the primary election ballot above the listing of candidates' names: 'I am a (insert appropriate political party) and understand that I am ineligible to vote or participate in another political party's primary election or convention during this voting year.'[2] | ” |
For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.
This page focuses on Texas' 23rd Congressional District Democratic primary. For more in-depth information on the district's Republican primary and the general election, see the following pages:
- Texas' 23rd Congressional District election, 2020 (March 3 Republican primary)
- Texas' 23rd Congressional District election, 2020
Election procedure changes in 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 primary election process as follows:
- Election postponements: The primary runoff elections were postponed from May 26 to July 14.
- Political party events: The Republican Party of Texas convention, scheduled for July 16-18 in Houston, was cancelled. The party conducted its convention online.
For a full timeline about election modifications made in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, click here.
Candidates and election results
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 23
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Gina Ortiz Jones | 66.2 | 41,718 |
| Efrain Valdez | 11.4 | 7,163 | ||
 | Rosalinda Ramos Abuabara  | 10.9 | 6,896 | |
| Ricardo Madrid | 7.2 | 4,518 | ||
 | Jaime Escuder | 4.3 | 2,725 | |
| Total votes: 63,020 | |||
| = 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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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Liz Wahl (D)
- Brandyn Waterman (D)
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+1, meaning that in the previous two presidential elections, this district's results were 1 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Texas' 23rd Congressional District the 227th most Republican nationally.[3]
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 0.93. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 0.93 points toward that party.[4]
Campaign finance
The chart below contains data from financial reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission.
| Name | Party | Receipts* | Disbursements** | Cash on hand | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rosalinda Ramos Abuabara | Democratic Party | $26,944 | $40,392 | $-13,448 | As of April 5, 2020 |
| Jaime Escuder | Democratic Party | $10,628 | $7,635 | $-1,705 | As of April 15, 2020 |
| Ricardo Madrid | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Gina Ortiz Jones | Democratic Party | $6,918,062 | $7,005,280 | $4,301 | As of December 31, 2020 |
| Efrain Valdez | Democratic 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." |
|||||
General 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.[5]
- 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.[6][7][8]
| Race ratings: Texas' 23rd 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 | Lean Democratic | Lean Democratic | Lean Democratic | |||||
| Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales | Tilt Democratic | Tilt Democratic | Tilt Democratic | Lean Democratic | |||||
| 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. | |||||||||
District represented by a Republican in 2020 and won by Hillary Clinton in 2016
This district was one of five Republican-held U.S. House districts up in 2020 that Hillary Clinton (D) won in the 2016 presidential election. Most were expected to be among the House's most competitive elections in 2020.
| Republican-held U.S. House districts won by Hillary Clinton in 2016 | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District | Incumbent | Ran in 2020? | 2018 congressional margin | 2016 presidential margin | 2012 presidential margin | ||||||||
| New York's 24th |  John Katko |
Yes | Republicans+5.3 | Clinton+3.6 | Obama+15.9 | ||||||||
| North Carolina's 2nd | George Holding |
Retired | Republicans+5.6 | Clinton+24.4 | Obama+15.3 | ||||||||
| North Carolina's 6th | Mark Walker |
Retired | Republicans+13.2 | Clinton+21.5 | Obama+17.7 | ||||||||
| Pennsylvania's 1st | Brian Fitzpatrick |
Yes | Republicans+2.5 | Clinton+2.0 | Obama+2.6 | ||||||||
| Texas' 23rd | Will Hurd |
Retired | Republicans+0.4 | Clinton+3.4 | Romney+2.6 | ||||||||
| Source: Sabato's Crystal Ball and Daily Kos | |||||||||||||
Click here to see the 30 U.S. House districts represented by a Democrat in 2020 and won by Donald Trump (R) in 2016.
See also
- Texas' 23rd Congressional District election, 2020 (March 3 Republican primary)
- Texas' 23rd Congressional District election, 2020
- United States House elections in Texas, 2020 (March 3 Democratic primaries)
- United States House elections in Texas, 2020 (March 3 Republican primaries)
- United States House Democratic Party primaries, 2020
- United States House Republican Party primaries, 2020
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2020
- U.S. House battlegrounds, 2020
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Texas Statutes, "Section 172.086," accessed October 7, 2024
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 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
