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Texas' 29th Congressional District election (March 6, 2018 Democratic primary)

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2020
2016
Texas' 29th Congressional District
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Democratic primary
Republican primary
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: December 11, 2017
Primary: March 6, 2018
Primary runoff: May 22, 2018 (if needed)
General: November 6, 2018

Pre-election incumbent:
Gene Green (Democrat)
How to vote
Poll times: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Voting in Texas
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Solid Democratic
Inside Elections: Solid Democratic
Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Democratic
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds
U.S. House battlegrounds
Federal and state primary competitiveness
Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2018
See also
Texas' 29th Congressional District
U.S. Senate1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9th10th11th12th13th14th15th16th17th18th19th20th21st22nd23rd24th25th26th27th28th29th30th31st32nd33rd34th35th36th27th (special)
Texas elections, 2018
U.S. Congress elections, 2018
U.S. Senate elections, 2018
U.S. House elections, 2018


Texas voter? Here's what you need to know.
Primary ElectionMarch 6, 2018
Primary TypeOpen
Candidate Filing DeadlineDecember 11, 2017
Registration DeadlineFebruary 6, 2018
Absentee Application DeadlineFebruary 27, 2018
Early voting deadlineMarch 2, 2018
General ElectionNovember 6, 2018
Polling locations: Go to this page to find early voting locations and your assigned precinct for election day.


State Sen. Sylvia Garcia (D) won the Democratic primary election for Texas' 29th Congressional District with 63 percent support on March 6, 2018, receiving enough votes to advance directly to the general election on November 6, 2018.

She faced the winner of the Republican primary runoff in the general. With Rep. Gene Green’s (D) retirement, voters in Texas' 29th Congressional District elected a new congressman for the first time in 25 years. They also had a chance to make some local history: This 77 percent majority Hispanic district could have elected its first Hispanic congressman.[1]

University of Houston political scientist Jeronimo Cortina told the Houston Chronicle he hoped the candidates appreciated how big this race was for the Hispanic community.

“[T]his is a very, very, very important opportunity for the Latino community to get not only descriptive representation, but also substantive representation,” Cortina said.[2]

Ballotpedia compiled the following resources to help voters better understand this election:

  • Overviews of each of the top candidates, including policy positions and campaign themes;
  • Major polls, endorsements, campaign ads, campaign finance information, and satellite spending updates;
  • A timeline of major events that occur over the course of the election.

Election results

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 29

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Sylvia Garcia
Sylvia Garcia
 
63.3
 
11,727
Image of Muhammad Javed
Muhammad Javed
 
20.7
 
3,831
Image of Roel Garcia
Roel Garcia
 
6.6
 
1,221
Image of Hector Morales
Hector Morales
 
3.0
 
563
Augustine Reyes
 
2.8
 
525
Image of Dominique Garcia
Dominique Garcia
 
2.6
 
478
Image of Pedro Valencia
Pedro Valencia
 
1.0
 
193

Total votes: 18,538
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Top candidates

The candidates listed below were selected based on leads in endorsements and campaign finance. They are listed below in alphabetical order.

Democratic Party Sylvia Garcia (D)

Sylvia Garcia.jpg

Heading into the 2018 election, Garcia was a member of the Texas State Senate, having first been elected in 2013. She previously served in elected office as a member of the Harris County Commissioner's Court, controller for the city of Houston, and as director and presiding judge of the Houston Municipal System. Garcia also served on the Intergovernmental Relations Committee during her time in the state Senate.[3]

In her November 2017 announcement, Garcia referred to her past experience in elected office: "I want to continue fighting for working families, quality education for Texas children, access to health care for all and immigration reform."[4] Garcia's state senatorial campaign website listed her top policy priorities as civil liberties, education, and healthcare.[5]

Garcia has received an endorsement from Teamsters Local 988.[6] She reported $484,884 in contributions as of February 14, 2018.

Democratic Party Tahir Javed (D)

Tahir Javed.jpg

Heading into the 2018 primary, Javed was the CEO of Riceland Healthcare Systems. He founded and served as the CEO of multiple other companies in wholesale, healthcare, and consulting. Javed spent years funding candidates and hosted a fundraiser with Hillary Clinton in Beaumont, Texas. He was born in Pakistan and graduated from Punjab University with a bachelor's degree in economics in 1987.[7]

While campaigning in a heavily Latino district, Javed focused on the similarity he saw between himself and Latinos. "Our struggle is the same," he said. "I was told 'go back to your country' many times."[8] Javed led the pack of candidates in funds raised, reporting $1,226,384 in contributions as of February 14, 2018.

Democratic Party Hector Morales (D)

Hector Morales.jpg

Morales' political experience includes serving as an intern with state Rep. Kevin Bailey (D) and with the Office of Health Reform under Pres. Barack Obama (D). In the past, Morales worked on the campaigns of Rick Noriega (D) for the U.S. Senate and Barack Obama (D).[9] He has also worked as a school teacher.

Morales' official campaign website described his campaign as "for the people. Not special interests."[10] His website described his policy priorities as education, energy, and tax policy.[11]

Morales received an endorsement in the primary from the Justice Democrats and Our Revolution.[12]

List of all candidates


Democratic Party Democratic primary candidates

Campaign themes and policy stances

Policies

Education

  • Democratic Party Sylvia Garcia (D): "Senator Garcia knows firsthand the value of a good education and that the success of our state depends on having a well-educated population. That’s why she continues to fight for more funding for our public schools to allow for smaller classes, raises for teachers and improved quality of schools – especially in impoverished neighborhoods throughout her Senate District."[13]
  • Democratic Party Tahir Javed (D): "As your representative, I will fight for the resources to reduce class size, hire more teachers, and fund afterschool programs. I will also vote to make improve public schools and make higher education more affordable for all – with a program of free public college, a community service forgiveness program for those who go to private college, and greater research investment across all of our higher education institutions."[14]
  • Democratic Party Hector Morales (D): "If you meet the academic requirements, you go for free. This is not a new concept — most industrialized countries do the exact same thing. If we want to rebuild our economy and encourage innovation in America, we need a highly-educated and highly-skilled workforce. Saddling students with debt is not only destructive to students’ futures, it also slows and depresses our economy."[15]

Healthcare

  • Democratic Party Sylvia Garcia (D): "Senator Garcia supported the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, which made healthcare accessible to all Americans, and supports its full implementation in Texas. Senator Garcia believes that it was irresponsible to reject Medicaid expansion in Texas, leaving millions – often the poorest of the poor – without healthcare coverage. She will continue to push for a solution to close this coverage gap."[16]
  • Democratic Party Tahir Javed (D): "We need to go beyond the Affordable Care Act. We need to mend – not end – Obamacare. I support Medicare for all. Period. We also need a Patient’s Bill of Rights to fill in the gaps in the system, and move towards a world-class healthcare system."[14]
  • Democratic Party Hector Morales (D): "Provide all Americans with healthcare through Medicare. This will include high-quality general, dental, vision, and mental health coverage. Medicare is more efficient than any private insurance provider and is accepted by 95% of doctors. Under our plan, private insurance companies will be allowed to compete with each other in a truly free market to offer supplemental insurance plans. The pharmaceutical industry gouges the American people and spends the vast majority of its profits on advertising and lobbying."[15]

Immigration

  • Democratic Party Sylvia Garcia (D): "We must simplify the current procedures to become a legal resident which lead to years of red tape and gridlock. We are splitting-up families and sending back hard-working people when what we need to do is to continue the American tradition of embracing the talents and intelligence that immigrants have always brought to this country."[17]
  • Democratic Party Hector Morales (D): "Create a swift and secure roadmap to citizenship. We want immigrants to come to America — but we do not want them coming here in unsafe and illegal ways. Today, too many potential immigrants risk their lives by illicitly crossing desert borders and paying human smugglers. To fix this problem, we must establish a safer way for potential immigrants to come to America — establishing legal immigration centers around the world to recruit the best working families in Latin America and the Caribbean and elsewhere to join the American family."[15]

Campaign tactics and strategies

Campaign advertisements

Tahir Javed

Support
"AMERICAN STORY" - Javed campaign ad, released February 13, 2018

Online presence

The following social media statistics were compiled on February 6, 2018.

Facebook Twitter
Candidate Followers Likes Comments on Last Ten Posts Followers Following Tweets
Democratic Party Garcia 14,744 11,098 2 8,898 592 13,200
Democratic Party Javed 2,011 1,982 61 12 0 0
Democratic Party Morales 696 676 10 912 964 405

Noteworthy events

Javed hosts fundraiser with Schumer

Muhammad Javed hosted a Houston fundraiser with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on January 27, 2018. At the event attended by about 100 people, Sen. Schumer emphasized Democrats' commitment to progress on key immigration reform. "We Democrats have made a stand...When Trump shut down the government, we said, 'No, we're going to stand up for the Dreamers.' And we are not backing off," he said.[18]

Also expected at the event were Sens. Bill Nelson (D) and Joe Donnelly (D) and Reps. Beto O'Rourke (D) and Jacky Rosen (D).[19]

Campaign finance

The table below details the campaign finance reports filed by the candidates in this race through February 14, 2018.[20]

Endorsements

See also: Endorsements in the Texas congressional primaries, 2018
Democratic candidate endorsements
Endorsement Dominique Garcia Roel Garcia Sylvia Garcia Javed Morales Reyes Valencia
Federal officeholders
Sen. Charles Schumer (D)[21]
Rep. Hank Johnson (D)[22]
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi[22]
Organizations
NARAL Pro-Choice America[23]
Texas Coalition of Black Democrats[22]
Harris County Tejano Democrats[24]
Our Revolution Texas[25]
Publications
Houston Chronicle[26]
PAC's
League of Conservation Voters Action Fund[27]
EMILY's List[28]
BOLD PAC[24]


Timeline

The timeline below lists the noteworthy events that occurred in this primary election.

  • March 6, 2018: Primary Election Day, Sylvia Garcia wins outright and advances to primary
  • February 23, 2018: Absentee ballot application deadline
  • February 5, 2018: Voter registration deadline
  • December 11, 2017: Candidate filing deadline passes
  • November 13, 2017: Rep. Gene Green (D) announces he will not seek re-election

Race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods
Race ratings: Texas' 29th Congressional District election, 2018
Race tracker Race ratings
October 30, 2018 October 23, 2018October 16, 2018October 9, 2018
The Cook Political Report Solid Democratic Solid DemocraticSolid DemocraticSolid Democratic
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales Solid Democratic Solid DemocraticSolid DemocraticSolid Democratic
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball Safe Democratic Safe DemocraticSafe DemocraticSafe Democratic
Note: Ballotpedia updates external race ratings every two weeks throughout the election season.

Early voting in Texas primaries, 2018

Click here to learn about historic early voting turnout for both parties in Texas in 2014 and 2018.

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+19, meaning that in the previous two presidential elections, this district's results were 19 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made Texas' 29th Congressional District the 71st most Democratic nationally.[29]

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 1.09. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 1.09 points toward that party.[30]

State overview

Partisan control

This section details the partisan control of federal and state positions in Texas heading into the 2018 elections.

Congressional delegation

State executives

State legislature

  • Republicans controlled both chambers of the Texas State Legislature. They had a 93-55 majority in the state House and a 21-10 majority in the state Senate.

Trifecta status

  • Texas was a Republican trifecta, meaning that the Republican Party held the governorship, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state House.

2018 elections

See also: Texas elections, 2018

Texas held elections for the following positions in 2018:

Demographics

Demographic data for Texas
 TexasU.S.
Total population:27,429,639316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):261,2323,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:74.9%73.6%
Black/African American:11.9%12.6%
Asian:4.2%5.1%
Native American:0.5%0.8%
Pacific Islander:0.1%0.2%
Two or more:2.5%3%
Hispanic/Latino:38.4%17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:81.9%86.7%
College graduation rate:27.6%29.8%
Income
Median household income:$53,207$53,889
Persons below poverty level:19.9%11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015)
Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Texas.
**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.

As of July 2016, Texas had a population of approximately 27,862,596 people, and its three largest cities were Houston (pop. est. 2.3 million), San Antonio (pop. est. 1.5 million), and Dallas (pop. est. 1.3 million).[31][32]

State election history

This section provides an overview of federal and state elections in Texas from 2000 to 2016.

Historical elections

Presidential elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the presidential election in Texas every year from 2000 to 2016.

Election results (President of the United States), Texas 2000-2016[33][34]
Year First-place candidate First-place candidate votes (%) Second-place candidate Second-place candidate votes (%) Margin of victory (%)
2016 Republican Party Donald Trump 52.23% Democratic Party Hillary Clinton 43.24% 8.99%
2012 Republican Party Mitt Romney 57.17% Democratic Party Barack Obama 41.38% 15.79%
2008 Republican Party John McCain 55.45% Democratic Party Barack Obama 43.68% 11.77%
2004 Republican Party George W. Bush 61.09% Democratic Party John Kerry 38.22% 22.87%
2000 Republican Party George W. Bush 59.30% Democratic Party Al Gore 37.98% 21.32%

U.S. Senate elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of U.S. Senate races in Texas from 2000 to 2016. Every state has two Senate seats, and each seat goes up for election every six years. The terms of the seats are staggered so that roughly one-third of the seats are up every two years.

Election results (U.S. Senator), Texas 2000-2016[35]
Year First-place candidate First-place candidate votes (%) Second-place candidate Second-place candidate votes (%) Margin of victory (%)
2014[36] Republican Party John Cornyn 61.56% Democratic Party David Alameel 34.36% 27.20%
2012[37] Republican Party Ted Cruz 56.46% Democratic Party Paul Sadler 40.62% 15.84%
2008[38] Republican Party John Cornyn 54.82% Democratic Party Richard Noriega 42.84% 11.98%
2006[39] Republican Party Kay Bailey Hutchison 61.69% Democratic Party Barbara Ann Radnofsky 36.04% 25.65%
2002[40] Republican Party John Cornyn 55.30% Democratic Party Ron Kirk 43.33% 11.97%
2000[41] Republican Party Kay Bailey Hutchison 65.04% Democratic Party Gene Kelly 32.35% 32.69%

Gubernatorial elections, 2000-2014

This chart shows the results of the four gubernatorial elections held between 2000 and 2014. Gubernatorial elections are held every four years in Texas.

Election results (Governor), Texas 2000-2016[42]
Year First-place candidate First-place candidate votes (%) Second-place candidate Second-place candidate votes (%) Margin of victory (%)
2014 Republican Party Greg Abbott 59.27% Democratic Party Wendy Davis 38.90% 20.37%
2010 Republican Party Rick Perry 54.97% Democratic Party Bill White 42.30% 12.67%
2006 Republican Party Rick Perry 39.03% Democratic Party Chris Bell 29.79% 9.24%
2002 Republican Party Rick Perry 57.81% Democratic Party Tony Sanchez 39.96% 17.85%

Congressional delegation, 2000-2016

This chart shows the number of Democrats and Republicans who were elected to represent Texas in the U.S. House from 2000 to 2016. Elections for U.S. House seats are held every two years.

Congressional delegation, Texas 2000-2016
Year Republicans Republicans (%) Democrats Democrats (%) Balance of power
2016 Republican Party 25 69.4% Democratic Party 11 30.6% R+14
2014 Republican Party 25 69.4% Democratic Party 11 30.6% R+14
2012 Republican Party 24 66.7% Democratic Party 12 33.3% R+12
2010 Republican Party 23 71.9% Democratic Party 9 28.1% R+14
2008 Republican Party 20 62.5% Democratic Party 12 37.5% R+8
2006 Republican Party 19 59.4% Democratic Party 13 40.6% R+6
2004 Republican Party 21 65.6% Democratic Party 11 34.4% R+10
2002 Republican Party 15 46.9% Democratic Party 17 53.1% D+2
2000 Republican Party 13 43.3% Democratic Party 17 56.7% D+4

Trifectas, 1992-2017

A state government trifecta occurs when one party controls both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's office.

Texas Party Control: 1992-2025
Three years of Democratic trifectas  •  Twenty-three 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 25
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 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 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 R


See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. United States Census Bureau, "QuickFacts," accessed January 10, 2018
  2. Houston Chronicle, "Green's retirement means Houston could send first Latino to Congress," November 14, 2017
  3. Texas State Senate, "Senator Sylvia R. Garcia," accessed December 14, 2017
  4. Click 2 Houston, "State Sen. Sylvia Garcia says she's running for Congress," November 14, 2017
  5. Sylvia Garcia for Texas Senate, "Home," accessed December 14, 2017
  6. PR Newswire, "State Senator Sylvia Garcia Receives Teamsters Support In Bid For Congress," November 22, 2017
  7. Tahir Javed 2018 campaign website, "About Tahir," accessed February 6, 2018
  8. Chron, "Unexpected rival from Beaumont emerges in race to represent Houston Latinos," January 15, 2018
  9. Hector Morales, "About," accessed December 14, 2017
  10. Hector Morales for Congress, "Home," accessed December 14, 2017
  11. Hector Morales for Congress, "Solving the issues we face," accessed December 14, 2017
  12. Twitter, "Justice Democrats," June 13, 2017
  13. Sylvia Garcia for Texas Senate, "Education," accessed December 15, 2017
  14. 14.0 14.1 Tahir Javed 2018 campaign website, "Our Plan," accessed February 6, 2018
  15. 15.0 15.1 15.2 Hector Morales for Congress, "Solving the issues we face," accessed December 15, 2017
  16. Sylvia Garcia for Texas Senate, "Healthcare," accessed December 15, 2017
  17. Sylvia Garcia for Texas Senate, "Immigration," accessed December 15, 2017
  18. Chron, "Straight from shutdown, Chuck Schumer heads for Houston fundraiser," January 23, 2018
  19. ActBlue, "Saturday Jan 27 event," accessed February 5, 2018
  20. Federal Election Commission, "Browse Candidates for House of Representatives," accessed February 14, 2018
  21. Texas Tribune, "New York Democrat Chuck Schumer endorses Tahir Javed in Houston race to replace U.S. Rep. Gene Green," February 21, 2018
  22. 22.0 22.1 22.2 Tahir Javed 2018 campaign website, "Endorsements," accessed February 23, 2018
  23. NARAL Pro-Choice America, "Candidates Earn Endorsement from Nation’s Leading Pro-Choice Advocacy Group," February 28, 2018
  24. 24.0 24.1 Chron, "Sylvia Garcia picks up key endorsements in congressional race," January 15, 2018
  25. Email submission to Ballotpedia, February 12, 2018
  26. Houston Chronicle, "For the 29th District," February 5, 2018
  27. League of Conservation Voters, "LCV Action Fund Endorses Sylvia Garcia for Congress," March 2, 2018
  28. Emily's List, "Sylvia Garcia," January 26, 2018
  29. Cook Political Report, "Introducing the 2017 Cook Political Report Partisan Voter Index," April 7, 2017
  30. FiveThirtyEight, "Election Update: The Most (And Least) Elastic States And Districts," September 6, 2018
  31. United States Census Bureau, "QuickFacts Texas," accessed December 12, 2017
  32. United States Census Bureau, "QuickFacts Houston; San Antonio; Dallas," accessed December 13, 2017
  33. Federal Election Commission, "2012 Election Results for the U.S. President, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives," accessed December 13, 2017
  34. Federal Election Commission, "Official 2016 Presidential General Election Results," January 30, 2017
  35. Federal Election Commission, "Federal Elections 2014: Election Results for the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives," accessed December 13, 2017
  36. Federal Election Commission, "2014 Official Election Results for United States Senate," accessed December 13, 2017
  37. Federal Election Commission, "2012 Official Election Results for United States Senate," accessed December 13, 2017
  38. Federal Election Commission, "2008 Official Election Results for United States Senate," accessed December 13, 2017
  39. Federal Election Commission, "2006 Official Election Results for United States Senate," accessed December 13, 2017
  40. Federal Election Commission, "2002 Official Election Results for United States Senate," accessed December 13, 2017
  41. Federal Election Commission, "2000 Official Election Results for United States Senate," accessed December 13, 2017
  42. Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections, "Texas Election Results," accessed December 13, 2017


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)