Francisco Canseco
Francisco Canseco (Republican Party) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent Texas' 23rd Congressional District. He is on the ballot in the Republican primary on March 3, 2026.[source]
Canseco (Republican Party) (also known as Quico) was a member of the U.S. House, representing Texas' 23rd Congressional District.
Canseco completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.
Attorney Francisco "Quico" Canseco represented Texas' 23rd Congressional District in Congress from 2011 to 2013 until he was defeated by Democratic challenger Pete Gallego. He was also a 2014 Republican candidate who sought election to the U.S. House to represent the 23rd Congressional District of Texas, but lost the election.[1]
Canseco's professional experience includes serving as the president and director of FMC Developers, the chairman of Texas Heritage Bancshares, and as counsel to Escamilla and Ponek. He also operated his own law practice for five years. Canseco earned his J.D. and bachelor's degrees from St. Louis University.[2]
Biography
Canseco is a first-generation American, as his parents immigrated to the United States from Mexico. After earning his bachelor's and J.D. From St. Louis University, Canseco worked in banking law. This eventually led him to begin working in the finance sector.[3]
Career
- 2011-2013: U.S. House of Representatives
Committee assignments
U.S. House
2011-12
Canseco served on the following House committees:[4]
- Financial Services Committee
- Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit
- Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations[5]
Issues
Specific votes
Fiscal Cliff
Canseco voted against the fiscal cliff compromise bill, which made permanent most of the Bush tax cuts originally passed in 2001 and 2003 while also raising tax rates on the highest income levels. He was 1 of 151 Republicans that voted against the bill. The bill was passed in the House by a 257 - 167 vote on January 1, 2013.[6]
Elections
2026
See also: Texas' 23rd Congressional District election, 2026
General election
The primary will occur on March 3, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.
General election for U.S. House Texas District 23
Patti Hale Ashe (Independent) and Veronica Williams (Independent) are running in the general election for U.S. House Texas District 23 on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
| Patti Hale Ashe (Independent) | ||
| Veronica Williams (Independent) | ||
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 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary
Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 23
Gretel Marysdatter Enck (D), Santos Limon (D), Bruce Richardson (D), and Katy Padilla Stout (D) are running in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 23 on March 3, 2026.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Gregory Lopez (D)
- Peter White (D)
Republican primary
Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 23
Incumbent Tony Gonzales (R), Keith Barton (R), Francisco Canseco (R), and Brandon Herrera (R) are running in the Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 23 on March 3, 2026.
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| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
Endorsements
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2018
General election
General election for U.S. House Texas District 21
Chip Roy defeated Joseph Kopser and Lee Santos in the general election for U.S. House Texas District 21 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Chip Roy (R) | 50.2 | 177,654 |
 | Joseph Kopser (D) | 47.6 | 168,421 | |
 | Lee Santos (L) | 2.1 | 7,542 | |
| Total votes: 353,617 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary runoff election
Democratic primary runoff for U.S. House Texas District 21
Joseph Kopser defeated Mary Wilson in the Democratic primary runoff for U.S. House Texas District 21 on May 22, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Joseph Kopser | 57.9 | 14,765 |
 | Mary Wilson | 42.1 | 10,722 | |
| Total votes: 25,487 | |||
| = 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 21
Chip Roy defeated Matt McCall in the Republican primary runoff for U.S. House Texas District 21 on May 22, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Chip Roy | 52.7 | 18,088 |
 | Matt McCall | 47.3 | 16,243 | |
| Total votes: 34,331 | |||
| = 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 21
Mary Wilson and Joseph Kopser advanced to a runoff. They defeated Derrick Crowe and Elliott McFadden in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 21 on March 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mary Wilson | 30.9 | 15,736 |
| ✔ | | Joseph Kopser | 29.0 | 14,787 |
 | Derrick Crowe | 23.1 | 11,742 | |
 | Elliott McFadden | 17.0 | 8,667 | |
| Total votes: 50,932 | |||
| = 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 21
The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 21 on March 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Chip Roy | 27.1 | 19,428 |
| ✔ | | Matt McCall | 16.9 | 12,152 |
 | William Negley | 15.5 | 11,163 | |
 | Jason Isaac | 10.0 | 7,208 | |
 | Jenifer Sarver | 5.6 | 4,027 | |
 | Robert Stovall | 4.8 | 3,414 | |
 | Susan Narvaiz | 3.8 | 2,720 | |
 | Francisco Canseco | 3.5 | 2,489 | |
 | Ryan Krause | 3.2 | 2,300 | |
 | Al Poteet | 1.8 | 1,300 | |
 | Peggy Wardlaw | 1.8 | 1,285 | |
| Samuel Temple | 1.4 | 1,020 | ||
 | Anthony White | 1.3 | 952 | |
 | Eric Burkhart | 1.0 | 723 | |
 | Mauro Garza | 0.9 | 663 | |
 | Autry Pruitt | 0.6 | 455 | |
| Foster Hagen | 0.5 | 394 | ||
 | Ivan Andarza | 0.1 | 96 | |
| Total votes: 71,789 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
2014
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Will Hurd |
41% | 10,496 | ||
| Francisco Canseco |
40.3% | 10,332 | ||
| Robert Lowry | 18.7% | 4,796 | ||
| Total Votes | 25,624 | |||
| Source: Texas Secretary of State |
||||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Will Hurd |
59.5% | 8,699 | ||
| Francisco Canseco | 40.5% | 5,930 | ||
| Total Votes | 14,629 | |||
| Source: Texas Secretary of State Note: Vote totals above are unofficial and will be updated once official totals are made available. |
||||
2012
Canseco ran in the 2012 election for the U.S. House to represent Texas' 23rd District. He ran unopposed in the Republican primary on May 29, 2012. He was defeated by Pete Gallego (D) in the general election on November 6, 2012.[7][8]
In 2011 redistricting, The Hill published a list of the Top Ten House Members who were helped by redistricting.[9] Canseco ranked 3rd on the list.[9] The article notes that in the redistricting process, Republican legislators were "careful when they redrew the district not to bring down the district’s Hispanic percentage in order to avoid violating the Voting Rights Act, which protects minority voters."[9] Instead, redistricting switched out high-voting Democratic Hispanic areas with areas that have lower turnout.[9] According to the article, if the district stands up to legal scrutiny, Canseco will be in a better position heading into the 2012 election.
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Pete Gallego |
50.3% | 96,676 | |
| Republican | Francisco Canseco Incumbent | 45.6% | 87,547 | |
| Libertarian | Jeffrey C. Blunt | 3% | 5,841 | |
| Green | Ed Scharf | 1.1% | 2,105 | |
| Total Votes | 192,169 | |||
| Source: Texas Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" | ||||
2010
On November 2, 2010, Canseco won election to the U.S. House of Representatives, defeating incumbent Ciro D. Rodriguez (D), Craig T. Stephens (Independent), Martin Nitschke (Libertarian), and Ed Scharf (Green).[10]
| U.S. House, Texas District 23 General Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Francisco "Quico" Canseco |
49.4% | 74,853 | |
| Democratic | Ciro D. Rodriguez Incumbent | 44.4% | 67,348 | |
| Independent | Craig T. Stephens | 3.6% | 5,432 | |
| Libertarian | Martin Nitschke | 1.6% | 2,482 | |
| Green | Ed Scharf | 0.9% | 1,419 | |
| Total Votes | 151,534 | |||
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Francisco Canseco completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Canseco's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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During his tenure in Congress, Canseco authored bills to strengthen border security, most notably focusing on linking cross-border violence to illegal immigration and trafficking. He actively opposed Obama-era government overreach, especially concerning the Dodd-Frank and Sarbanes-Oxley laws, which he believed were harmful to businesses and consumers.
Canseco and his wife, Gloria, have been married since 1979. They have three children and three grandchildren. Residing in San Antonio, they have been involved in their community and church. Canseco has also supported philanthropic efforts in South Texas, especially in healthcare and education.- As a MAGA Republican, Canseco firmly believes that the American Constitution has shaped this country, granting rights, freedoms, and liberties that guarantee our nation's success. To ensure our nation continues to thrive, the Constitution must be preserved, protected, and restored, particularly among young people. "It is critical that we recognize that if the dangers we face today are not quickly and decisively addressed, what generations before us built over the last 250 years could be lost." Canseco sees President Trump's vision for the country as innovative, effective, and capable of restoring a value system that has eluded Americans for too long.
- The key to making the cost of living affordable is reducing unreasonable controls over the engines of the economy. Energy drives the economy, and the Obama-Biden administration imposed a regulatory stranglehold on energy production and delivery, harming our country in the process. Another impediment to the economy is a set of rules and regulations that prevent growth and increase consumer costs. The Trump administration has made unprecedented strides in this area, and these measures must be expanded and encouraged.
- President Trump has closed the country's borders and implemented measures to reverse the damage of years of intrusions rightly characterized as invasive. Border closures and the protection of American sovereignty are necessary to protect our nation from incessant attempts to invade our country, which are likely to increase as the United States prospers. Most importantly, the country needs common-sense solutions to prevent future incursions while recognizing the potentially lethal impact of intrusions involving advanced digital, biological, and other advanced technologies.
2. Upholding the separation of powers among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches,
3. Limiting government interference in healthcare,
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Analysis
Congressional staff salaries
The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Canseco paid his congressional staff a total of $733,805 in 2011. Overall, Texas ranked 27th in average salary for representative staff. The average U.S. House of Representatives congressional staff was paid $954,912.20 in fiscal year 2011.[11]
Net worth
2011
Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org, Canseco's net worth as of 2011 was estimated between $-336,966 to $1,079,997. That averages to $371,515, which is lower than the average net worth of Republican House members in 2011 of $7,859,232. His average calculated net worth[12] decreased by 52.64% from 2010.[13]
2010
Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org, Green's net worth as of 2010 was estimated between $49,037 to $1,519,998. That averages to $784,517.50 which is lower than the average net worth of Republican representatives in 2010 of $7,561,133.[14]
National Journal vote ratings
- See also: National Journal vote ratings
2012
Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of Congress voted in the previous year. Canseco ranked 23rd in the conservative rankings among members of the U.S. House.[15]
2011
Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of Congress voted in the previous year. Canseco was tied with one other member of the U.S. House of Representatives, ranking 54th in the conservative rankings among members of the U.S. House.[16]
Voting with party
November 2011
Canseco voted with the Republican Party 95.3 percent of the time, which ranked 23 among the 242 House Republican members as of November 2011.Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Francisco Canseco Texas Congress. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Associated Press, "Election Results May 27, 2014," accessed May 27, 2014
- ↑ Official House website, "Biography," accessed October 31, 2011
- ↑ Official House website, "Biography," accessed October 31, 2011
- ↑ Official House website, "Committee Assignments," accessed October 31, 2011
- ↑ The Committee on Financial Services, Chairman Spencer Bachus, "Oversight and Investigations" (dead link)
- ↑ U.S. House, "Roll Call Vote on the Fiscal Cliff," accessed January 4, 2013
- ↑ Texas GOP, "Republican candidate list," accessed May 10, 2012
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "Unofficial Republican primary results," May 29, 2012
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 The Hill, "House members most helped by redistricting," accessed April 17, 2012
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010," accessed March 28, 2013
- ↑ LegiStorm, "Francisco Canseco," accessed September 13, 2012
- ↑ This figure represents the total percentage growth from either 2004 (if the member entered office in 2004 or earlier) or the member's first year in office (as noted in the chart below).
- ↑ OpenSecrets, "Francisco Canseco (R-Texas), 2011," accessed February 25, 2013
- ↑ OpenSecrets, "Francisco Conseco (R-Texas), 2010," accessed September 13, 2012
- ↑ National Journal, "2012 Congressional Vote Ratings," March 7, 2013
- ↑ National Journal, "Searchable Vote Ratings Tables: House," accessed February 23, 2012
