Texas' 23rd Congressional District election, 2024

	2026 → ← 2022
Texas' 23rd Congressional District
	Democratic primary; Republican primary; Republican primary runoff; General election
Election details
	Filing deadline: December 11, 2023
	Primary: March 5, 2024; Primary runoff: May 28, 2024; General: November 5, 2024
How to vote
	Poll times: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Voting in Texas
Race ratings
	Cook Political Report: Solid Republican; DDHQ and The Hill: Safe 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, 2024
See also
	Texas' 23rd 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 • 37th • 38th; Texas elections, 2024; U.S. Congress elections, 2024; U.S. Senate elections, 2024; U.S. House elections, 2024; 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

Texas 2024 elections

U.S. Senate • U.S. House • Congressional special elections • State executive offices • State Senate • State House • Special state legislative • Supreme court • Appellate courts • Local ballot measures • School boards • Municipal • Recalls • All other local • How to run for office

All U.S. House districts, including the 23rd Congressional District of Texas, held elections in 2024. The general election was November 5, 2024. The primary was March 5, 2024, and a primary runoff was May 28, 2024. The filing deadline was December 11, 2023.

The outcome of this race affected the partisan balance of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 119th Congress. All 435 House districts were up for election.

At the time of the election, Republicans held a 220-212 majority with three vacancies.^[1] As a result of the election, Republicans retained control of the U.S. House, winning 220 seats to Democrats' 215.^[2] To read more about the 2024 U.S. House elections, click here.

In the 2022 election in this district, the Republican candidate won 55.9%-38.8%. Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Donald Trump (R) would have defeated Joe Biden (D) 52.9%-45.8%.^[3]

The United Democracy Project (UDP) is a super PAC affiliated with the pro-Israel lobbying group the American Israel Public Affairs Commission (AIPAC). UDP contributed satellite spending in Texas' 23rd Congressional District election in 2024. To learn more about how influencers, including activists, lobbyists, and philanthropists influence elections, click here.

For more information about the primaries in this election, click on the links below:

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for U.S. House Texas District 23

Incumbent Tony Gonzales defeated Santos Limon in the general election for U.S. House Texas District 23 on November 5, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Tony Gonzales (R)	62.3	180,720
	Santos Limon (D)	37.7	109,373

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 290,093
= 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 23

Incumbent Tony Gonzales defeated Brandon Herrera in the Republican primary runoff for U.S. House Texas District 23 on May 28, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Tony Gonzales	50.6	15,023
	Brandon Herrera	49.4	14,669

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 29,692
= 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 23

Santos Limon defeated Lee Bausinger in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 23 on March 5, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Santos Limon	58.5	16,316
	Lee Bausinger	41.5	11,577

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 27,893
= 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

Rocco Ciappa (D)
Gregory Lopez (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 23

Incumbent Tony Gonzales and Brandon Herrera advanced to a runoff. They defeated Julie Clark, Francisco Lopez, and Victor Avila in the Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 23 on March 5, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Tony Gonzales	45.1	25,988
✔	Brandon Herrera	24.6	14,201
	Julie Clark	13.9	7,994
	Francisco Lopez	10.9	6,266
	Victor Avila	5.5	3,181

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 57,630
= 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 that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

Tony Gonzales

Party: Republican Party

Incumbent: Yes

Political Office:

U.S. House Texas District 23 (Assumed office: 2021)

Biography: Gonzales obtained an associate's degree from Chaminade University, a bachelor's degree from Excelsior College, and a master's degree from American Public University. He served in the U.S. Navy for 20 years and, before entering elected politics, taught at Pensacola State College and the University of Maryland College Park. Gonzales also served as a legislative fellow at the Navy's office of legislative affairs.

Key Messages

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

Gonzales said he considered immigration policy a priority as the representative from the largest border district in the country. Gonzales said he was "leading the effort to label Mexican drug cartels as terrorists organizations and implement tougher penalties on drug dealers and human smugglers."

Gonzales said that as a veteran and a Christian, he was willing to fight for what he described as true American values including supporting restrictions on abortion, opposing restrictions on firearms, and opposing restrictions on property rights and speech rights.

Gonzales said he had delivered for the district during his two terms in Congress, mentioning his membership on the Homeland Security and Appropriations committees and more than $4 billion in funding he said he secured for healthcare for veterans.

Show sources

Sources: Tony Gonzales campaign website, "Home page," accessed December 20, 2023, Tony Gonzales campaign website, "Meet Tony," accessed December 20, 2023, Tony Gonzales campaign website, "Issues," accessed December 20, 2023, Facebook, "Tony Gonzales - Videos," accessed December 20, 2023; Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, "GONZALES, Tony," accessed December 20, 2023

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Texas District 23 in 2024.

Voting information

See also: Voting in Texas

Election information in Texas: Nov. 5, 2024, election.

What was the voter registration deadline?

In-person: Oct. 7, 2024
By mail: Postmarked by Oct. 7, 2024
Online: N/A

Was absentee/mail-in voting available to all voters?

No

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?

In-person: Oct. 25, 2024
By mail: Received by Oct. 25, 2024
Online: N/A

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?

In-person: Nov. 5, 2024
By mail: Postmarked by Nov. 5, 2024

Was early voting available to all voters?

Yes

What were the early voting start and end dates?

Oct. 21, 2024 to Nov. 1, 2024

Were all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, was a photo or non-photo ID required?

N/A

When were polls open on Election Day?

7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. (CST/MST)

Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

No candidate in this race completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign finance

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
Tony Gonzales	Republican Party	$5,949,591	$4,844,992	$1,458,987	As of December 31, 2024
Lee Bausinger	Democratic Party	$21,605	$20,875	$830	As of July 20, 2024
Santos Limon	Democratic Party	$111,740	$111,715	$25	As of June 30, 2024
Victor Avila	Republican Party	$114,258	$114,258	$0	As of September 30, 2024
Julie Clark	Republican Party	$1,006,567	$1,006,567	$0	As of September 30, 2024
Brandon Herrera	Republican Party	$1,997,067	$1,989,026	$8,041	As of December 31, 2024
Francisco Lopez	Republican Party	$11,412	$12,379	$-967	As of March 31, 2024
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2024. 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.

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.^[4]
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.^[5]^[6]^[7]

Race ratings: Texas' 23rd Congressional District election, 2024
Race tracker	Race ratings
	November 5, 2024	October 29, 2024	October 22, 2024	October 15, 2024
The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican
Decision Desk HQ and The Hill	Safe Republican	Safe Republican	Safe Republican	Safe Republican
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Safe Republican	Safe Republican	Safe Republican	Safe Republican
Note: Ballotpedia reviews external race ratings every week throughout the election season and posts weekly updates even if the media outlets have not revised their ratings during that week.

Ballot access

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. House candidates in Texas in the 2024 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Texas, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. House candidates, 2024
State	Office	Party	Signatures required	Filing fee	Filing deadline	Source
Texas	U.S. House	Democratic or Republican	2% of votes cast for governor in the district in the last election, or 500, whichever is less	$3,125.00	12/11/2023	Source
Texas	U.S. House	Unaffiliated	5% of all votes cast for governor in the district in the last election, or 500, whichever is less	N/A	12/11/2023	Source

District analysis

Click the tabs below to view information about voter composition, past elections, and demographics in both the district and the state.

District map - A map of the district in place for the election.
Competitiveness - Information about the competitiveness of 2024 U.S. House elections in the state.
Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the district and the state.
State party control - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.

District map

Competitiveness
Presidential elections

State party control

Below was the map in use at the time of the election. Click the map below to enlarge it.

See also: Primary election competitiveness in state and federal government, 2024

This section contains data on U.S. House primary election competitiveness in Texas.

Texas U.S. House competitiveness, 2014-2024
Year	Districts/ offices	Seats	Open seats	Candidates	Possible primaries	Contested Democratic primaries	Contested Republican primaries	% of contested primaries	Incumbents in contested primaries	% of incumbents in contested primaries
2024	38	38	3	160	76	16	23	51.3%	19	54.3%
2022	38	38	6	222	76	17	27	57.9%	19	59.4%
2020	36	36	6	231	72	24	26	69.4%	18	60.0%
2018	36	36	8	212	72	25	21	63.9%	15	53.6%
2016	36	36	2	127	72	13	20	45.8%	19	55.9%
2014	36	36	1	100	72	6	13	26.4%	12	34.3%

Post-filing deadline analysis

The following analysis covers all U.S. House districts up for election in Texas in 2024. Information below was calculated on 1/29/2024, and may differ from information shown in the table above due to candidate replacements and withdrawals after that time.

In 2024, 164 candidates filed to run for Texas’ 38 U.S. House districts, including 63 Democrats and 101 Republicans. That was 4.3 candidates per district, the lowest number since 2016, when 3.5 candidates ran.

In 2022, the first election after the number of congressional districts in Texas increased from 36 to 38, 5.8 candidates ran per district. In 2020, 6.4 candidates ran, and 5.8 candidates ran in 2018.

The 164 candidates who ran in 2024 were also the fewest total number to run since 2016, when 127 candidates ran. One hundred candidates ran for Texas’ then-36 districts in 2014, the fewest in the decade, while 231 ran in 2020, the decade-high.

Three seats were open. That was the fewest since 2016, when two seats were open. Six seats were open in 2022 and 2020, and eight were in 2018—the decade-high.

Reps. Kay Granger (R-12th) and Michael Burgess (R-26th) retired from public office. Rep. Colin Allred (D-32nd) didn't seek re-election in order to run for the U.S. Senate. Fourteen candidates—10 Democrats and 4 Republicans—ran for the open 32nd district, the most candidates who ran for a seat in 2024.

Thirty-nine primaries—16 Democratic and 23 Republican—were contested this year. That was the fewest since 2016, when 33 were contested. There were 44 contested primaries in 2022, 50 in 2020, and 46 in 2018.

Nineteen incumbents—six Democrats and thirteen Republicans—faced primary challengers this year. That was the same number as 2022, and one more than in 2020.

Three districts—the 9th, the 20th, and the 30th—were guaranteed to Democrats because no Republicans filed to run. Five were guaranteed to Republicans because no Democrats filed to run—the 1st, the 11th, the 13th, the 19th, and the 25th.

Partisan Voter Index

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

Heading into the 2024 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+5. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 5 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Texas' 23rd the 189th most Republican district nationally.^[8]

2020 presidential election results

The table below shows what the vote in the 2020 presidential election would have been in this district. The presidential election data was compiled by Daily Kos.

2020 presidential results in Texas' 23rd based on 2024 district lines
Joe Biden	Donald Trump
45.8%	52.9%

Inside Elections Baselines

See also: Inside Elections

Inside Elections' Baseline is a figure that analyzes all federal and statewide election results from the district over the past four election cycles. The results are combined in an index estimating the strength of a typical Democratic or Republican candidate in the congressional district.^[9] The table below displays the Baseline data for this district.

Inside Elections Baseline for 2024
Democratic Baseline	Republican Baseline	Difference
45.4	51.9	R+6.5

Presidential voting history

See also: Presidential election in Texas, 2020

Texas presidential election results (1900-2020)

16 Democratic wins
15 Republican wins

Year	1900	1904	1908	1912	1916	1920	1924	1928	1932	1936	1940	1944	1948	1952	1956	1960	1964	1968	1972	1976	1980	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012	2016	2020
Winning Party	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	D	D	D	R	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R

See also: Party control of Texas state government

Congressional delegation

The table below displays the partisan composition of Texas' congressional delegation as of May 2024.

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from Texas
Party	U.S. Senate	U.S. House	Total
Democratic	0	12	12
Republican	2	25	27
Independent	0	0	0
Vacancies	0	1	1
Total	2	38	40

State executive

The table below displays the officeholders in Texas' top four state executive offices as of May 2024.

State executive officials in Texas, May 2024
Office	Officeholder
Governor	Greg Abbott
Lieutenant Governor	Dan Patrick
Secretary of State	Jane Nelson
Attorney General	Ken Paxton

State legislature

Texas State Senate

Party		As of February 2024
	Democratic Party	11
	Republican Party	19
	Other	0
	Vacancies	1
Total		31

Texas House of Representatives

Party		As of February 2024
	Democratic Party	64
	Republican Party	86
	Other	0
	Vacancies	0
Total		150

Trifecta control

The table below shows the state's trifecta status from 1992 until the 2024 election.

Texas Party Control: 1992-2024
Three years of Democratic trifectas • Twenty-two 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
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
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
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

District history

The section below details election results for this office in elections dating back to 2018.