SAN ANTONIO — This election season will determine which party controls Congress, and the Texas District 23 race is heating up.
Incumbent Will Hurd, known as the only African-American Republican in the House, is not running for reelection after holding the seat for the last six years. His last opponent, however, is back on the ballot and plenty of other candidates are hoping to claim the seat.
The 23rd Texas Congressional seat represents a massive area of the Lone Star State, spanning more than 58,000 square miles with close to 800,000 people that call it home.
Parts of south and west San Antonio are included, then the district stretches down to the border and out to El Paso.
During the last election in 2018, Hurd ran a tight race against Democrat Gina Ortiz Jones, winning by 926 votes.
Before Hurd’s streak, District 23 basically ping-ponged between Republican and Democrat congressmen except for in the '90s and early 2000s.
From 1992 to 2004, Republican Henry Bonilla won seven elections in a row.
The primary ballot for District 23 in the 2020 election is packed. Gina Ortiz Jones is back and leads the primary candidates with the biggest campaign war chest.
Others on the Democrat ballot include:
On the Republican ballot, Tony Gonzales has pulled in the most money and picked up some endorsements. One thumbs-up is from Hurd.
Others on the Republican primary ballot include:
Libertarian Candidates:
- Tim Martinez
- Beto Villela
Independent Candidate:
On Super Tuesday, the Republicans and Democrats will narrow down these lists to the candidate who will represent their party on the November ballot. If a runoff is needed, the election will take place in May.