Retired Border Patrol agent Adam Bauman is leading in early voting among seven candidates in the Republican primary for Texas’ District 16 congressional seat, likely heading into a May runoff.
Bauman, 49, a Navy veteran who now runs a canine drug detection business, garnered 25% of the early vote. Bauman, who’s making his first run for office, came to El Paso in 2001 when he was stationed here with Border Patrol.
He’s followed by convicted former Judge Manuel J. Barraza with nearly 17% of the early vote, businessman Hector Cabildo with about 16% and middle school history teacher Ruben Arturo Rios with nearly 14%.
The Republican candidates are seeking their party’s nomination to face incumbent U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar in the Nov. 3 midterms. Escobar, who’s seeking her fifth term, is unopposed in the Democratic primary.
The other GOP candidates include Navy veteran Raul “Bullet” Castaneda, who had 11% of the early vote; and retired office manager Marcy Chavez and retired Border Patrol agent Deliris “DMB” Montanez, who each had 9% of the early vote.
To secure their party’s nomination outright, primary candidates must receive more than 50% of the vote. If that threshold isn’t met, the top two vote-getters advance to a runoff election May 26.
Republicans have only won El Paso’s main congressional seat once since 1900. Ed Foreman won the 1962 election but was ousted by Democrat Richard White in 1964.
The Republican candidates campaigned largely in support of policies that align with President Donald Trump and his administration, including taking a hard-line against illegal immigration.
Only two of the seven candidates had voted in Republican primary elections the past decade, with Rios and Chavez being the exception. Chavez voted in the Democratic primary in 2024 after voting in the GOP primary in 2020.
Chavez, 67, who said her priority was taking care of the homeless rather than “foreigners,” didn’t file any campaign finance reports with the Federal Election Commission because she didn’t know she had to. She said she spent at least $2,000 on campaign flyers.
Rios and Cabildo didn’t respond to requests for interviews during the campaign. Rios didn’t report any campaign fundraising, while Cabildo raised nearly $5,400 and loaned himself $5,580, FEC data shows.
Castaneda, 71, who also didn’t file campaign finance reports, campaigned heavily on his veteran status, stating that he would like to see more spending on helping veterans rather than helping “the illegals.”
Barraza, 70, didn’t file any campaign finance reports. The former judge was convicted on wire fraud and deprivation of honest services in 2010. He served four years in prison and was disbarred. He told El Paso Matters he believed voters would give him a second chance at public service.
Montanez previously ran unsuccessfully for Congress as an Independent and in 2022 made an unsuccessful bid for an El Paso city representative seat, a nonpartisan position. She owns an equestrian holistic retreat. She reported nearly $3,700 in contributions and loaned her campaign more than $81,300, Federal Election Commission reports show. She said her investment shows her dedication to public service and not allegiance to donors.
Texas’ 16th Congressional District stretches over most of El Paso County minus some portions of the Lower Valley and East Montana. U.S. representatives serve two-year terms and are paid $174,000 a year.
The candidate elected to office will be sworn into the 120th Congress in early January 2027.
The post Adam Bauman leads Republican candidates for District 16 Congressional seat in early voting appeared first on El Paso Matters.
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