Former Border Patrol agent Adam Bauman easily defeated Manuel Barraza, a former judge convicted of fraud, in the Republican runoff for Congressional District 16, according to early voting returns Tuesday.
Bauman received 70% of the early votes, with Barraza taking 30%. Bauman, who didn’t immediately return calls for comment, will face Democratic incumbent Veronica Escobar in November. Escobar, who is seeking her fifth term, was unopposed in the Democratic primary.
In the hotly contested GOP runoff for the U.S. Senate in Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton, 63, defeated incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, 74, who was seeking his fifth term. In El Paso County, Paxton won 64% of the early votes in the Republican runoff.
Paxton, who received an endorsement from President Donald Trump earlier this month, will now face Democratic nominee James Talarico in the Nov. 3 midterm. Talarico, an Austin state representative and former middle school teacher, defeated Rep. Jasmine Crockett in the Democratic primary in March.
Congressional District 16
Barraza, 70, and Bauman, 50, advanced to the runoff in the March primary, which drew seven GOP candidates to the race.
Barraza was elected judge of Criminal District Court No. 1 in 2008 as a Democrat and before March had no record of voting in a Republican primary in El Paso.
He served four years in federal prison after being convicted in 2010 of wire fraud and honest services fraud tied to allegations he traded judicial influence for cash and sexual favors. Barraza denies accepting any bribes or favors, but a jury found otherwise. He was disbarred after the conviction.
Barraza didn’t immediately return calls for comment.
Barraza reported total contributions of $4,000 toward his campaign, spending just under $3,500 on signs, social media campaigns and election poll workers.
Bauman, a former Border Patrol agent and Navy veteran, has declined repeated interview requests from El Paso Matters. He runs a tactical canine business and has campaigned largely around fitness groups.
Prior to March, he hadn’t voted in a Republican primary since registering to vote in El Paso in 2002.
Bauman did not file any campaign finance reports with the Federal Election Commission throughout his campaign. Federal election law requires candidates file reports when they raise or spend at least $5,000.
SEE ALSO: How El Pasoans voted in the March 3 primary elections
Members of the U.S. House of Representatives serve two-year terms and are paid $174,000 a year. District 16 covers most of El Paso with the exception of the eastern portion of the Lower Valley, parts of East Montana and Horizon City.
A Republican last won the 16th Congressional District race in 1962. National Republican leaders have not placed the El Paso district on lists of seats they plan to contest, essentially conceding that Escobar is almost certain to win re-election.
The post El Paso GOP runoff results: Bauman easily defeats Barraza for congressional bid; Paxton ousts Cornyn for Senate nomination appeared first on El Paso Matters.
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