Texas' 16th Congressional District election, 2024

	2026 → ← 2022
Texas' 16th Congressional District
	Democratic primary; Republican primary; 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 Democratic; DDHQ and The Hill: Safe 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, 2024
See also
	Texas' 16th 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 16th 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.

This race was one of 75 races in 2024 that was a rematch of the 2022 election. In 2024, Democrats won 39 of these matches, while Republicans won 36 of them. Democrats won 38 of those districts in 2022, and Republicans won 37.

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 Democratic candidate won 63.5%-36.5%. Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Joe Biden (D) would have defeated Donald Trump (R) 67.0%-31.5%.^[3]

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 16

Incumbent Veronica Escobar defeated Irene Armendariz-Jackson and Deliris Montanez in the general election for U.S. House Texas District 16 on November 5, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Veronica Escobar (D)	59.5	131,391
	Irene Armendariz-Jackson (R)	40.4	89,281
	Deliris Montanez (Independent) (Write-in)	0.1	156

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 220,828
= 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 16

Incumbent Veronica Escobar defeated Leeland White in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 16 on March 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Veronica Escobar	86.3	28,129
	Submit photo	Leeland White	13.7	4,470

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 32,599
= 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 16

Irene Armendariz-Jackson advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 16 on March 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Irene Armendariz-Jackson	100.0	15,553

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 15,553
= 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

Deliris Montanez (R)

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.

Deliris Montanez

Party: Independent

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography: "DMB was born in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico, and has lived in the El Paso area for 24+ years. She attended school from Pre-K through grade 12 in Caguas, Puerto Rico, and graduated with a BBA in Accounting from the University of Puerto Rico at Cayey, Puerto Rico. Her MA in Management is from Webster University, Fort Bliss. She also attended leadership programs at the US Army Command and General Staff College and the Defense Language Institute English Language Center. She spent 29 years in the U.S. Army Reserves, retiring in 2019. Much of her Army career involved training and operations, logistics, and administrative duties within the battalions to which she was assigned. She has served in multinational joint logistics task forces around the world. She has represented the United States Army Reserve with the British Forces in a logistics exchange program, and she was handpicked on many occasions for key assignments ahead of her peers. She is the recipient of many awards and medals for her honorable military service. Her second and full-time career from 2000 to 2020 was as a Federal Agent. She was assigned to the El Paso Sector, serving in a senior agent leadership position. She applied and enforced complex criminal provisions of the INS laws, apprehended illegal immigrants and smugglers, and worked to stop drug smuggling operations."

Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

Illegal immigration encourages and funds human and child trafficking. I am extremely fortunate that Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States. On the same token, I am very understanding and sympathetic with the challenges our immigrants face in their country of origin. Living in El Paso offers a unique perspective on illegal immigration and how it affects the livelihood of all American citizens. We MUST secure our border to keep bad immigrants out and to encourage 100% LEGAL immigration. I am committed to enforce the already established laws and conduct oversight on every funding given to our federal agencies to secure our nation.

Our Veterans have put everything on the line to protect the America we all love dearly, now we owe it to them to ensure they have the necessary care and resources they deserve. From job training to life long quality healthcare, our Veterans need a voice in Washington who will never back down. Our only response will be a FIGHT response and will NEVER wave the white flag. I am ready to fight for our Veterans to ensure they never struggle to get what they need from our government agencies.

Mental Health awareness aims to reduce stigma around mental illness and mental health conditions by sharing personal experiences. As a Mental Health survivor myself, I promise you all we can save a life by listening closely and stop being judgemental. I am, and will always be a Mental Health Candidate advocating for resources to dramatically reduce our number of suicides in trauma patients. One life lost is way too many. With the amount of funding Congress have pushed, our numbers should be close to zero.

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Texas District 16 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. The section below shows responses from candidates in this race who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Survey responses from candidates in this race

Click on a candidate's name to visit their Ballotpedia page.

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.

Expand all | Collapse all

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/DelirisMontanezBerrios2.jpg

Deliris Montanez (Independent)

Illegal immigration encourages and funds human and child trafficking. I am extremely fortunate that Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States. On the same token, I am very understanding and sympathetic with the challenges our immigrants face in their country of origin. Living in El Paso offers a unique perspective on illegal immigration and how it affects the livelihood of all American citizens. We MUST secure our border to keep bad immigrants out and to encourage 100% LEGAL immigration. I am committed to enforce the already established laws and conduct oversight on every funding given to our federal agencies to secure our nation.

Our Veterans have put everything on the line to protect the America we all love dearly, now we owe it to them to ensure they have the necessary care and resources they deserve. From job training to life long quality healthcare, our Veterans need a voice in Washington who will never back down. Our only response will be a FIGHT response and will NEVER wave the white flag. I am ready to fight for our Veterans to ensure they never struggle to get what they need from our government agencies.

Mental Health awareness aims to reduce stigma around mental illness and mental health conditions by sharing personal experiences. As a Mental Health survivor myself, I promise you all we can save a life by listening closely and stop being judgemental. I am, and will always be a Mental Health Candidate advocating for resources to dramatically reduce our number of suicides in trauma patients. One life lost is way too many. With the amount of funding Congress have pushed, our numbers should be close to zero.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Deliris Montanez (Independent)

Pro-Mental Health. Pro-Term Limits. Pro-Life. Pro-Economy. Pro-Law Enforcement. National Security. Border Security. Pro-Military. End Workplace Abuse. Pro-God. Pro-Small Businesses. Government Transparency, Accountability, Justice, and Oversight. Judicial System Reform. Military Judicial System Reform. Protecting Social Security. Caring for our Veterans. Protecting Women's Sports. Parenting Empowerment. School Choice. Investing in Our Future.

What legacy would you like to leave?

Deliris Montanez (Independent)

Leave this world better than how I found it for the generations to come.

What are your thoughts on term limits?

Deliris Montanez (Independent)

House Joint Resolution 11 proposes a constitutional amendment limiting Representatives to three terms and Senators to two terms. I have pledged to uphold and fight for term limits in Congress.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

Deliris Montanez (Independent)

DMB is running a grassroots campaign and even though endorsements are welcome and appreciated, she has decided not to ask for endorsements.

Campaign finance

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
Veronica Escobar	Democratic Party	$1,343,214	$1,474,083	$115,845	As of December 31, 2024
Leeland White	Democratic Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Irene Armendariz-Jackson	Republican Party	$64,300	$65,048	$0	As of December 31, 2024
Deliris Montanez	Independent	$45,942	$46,560	$500	As of December 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. * Candidate either did not report any receipts or disbursements to the FEC, or Ballotpedia did not find an FEC candidate ID.

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' 16th 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 Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic
Decision Desk HQ and The Hill	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic
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 D+17. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 17 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made Texas' 16th the 82nd most Democratic 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' 16th based on 2024 district lines
Joe Biden	Donald Trump
67.0%	31.5%

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
65.6	31.1	D+34.4

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.