Incumbent Veronica Escobar swept to an easy victory in the Democratic primary for Texas’ 16th congressional seat, setting up a November rematch with a Republican she has easily defeated twice before.
Escobar easily defeated challenger Leeland White, who was virtually invisible in the campaign. He showed up at Democratic headquarters shortly before the filing deadline at 5 p.m. Dec. 11, paid a $3,125 filing fee in cash, and then vanished for the rest of the campaign. He never disclosed the source of his filing fee.
Escobar won 86% of early votes.
Irene Armendariz-Jackson was unopposed in the Republican primary and will face Escobar again in November. She challenged the incumbent Democrat in 2020 and 2022, never receiving more than 37% of the vote.
Deliris Montanez Berrios, who received 12% of the vote when she challenged Escobar in the 2022 Democratic primary, has said she’ll run as an independent for the congressional seat in November. She must turn in petitions with at least 500 signatures of registered voters in the district by June 27 to qualify for the ballot.
Escobar was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018 and has become a major figure in national Democratic politics. She is one of seven national co-chairs of President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign.
She’ll likely have a huge financial advantage over her challengers. Escobar has raised more than $800,000 as of Feb. 14, and had almost $400,000 in the bank, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.
Armendariz-Jackson has raised about $24,000 and has loaned her campaign $15,000. She had about $1,300 in the bank on Feb. 14.
Montanez Berrios has raised $2,600 and loaned her campaign more than $29,000. She had about $3,300 in the bank as of the end of 2023.
The post Escobar wins Democratic nomination in bid for 4th term in Congress appeared first on El Paso Matters.
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