The two incumbent U.S. representatives for El Paso — one a Democrat and one a Republican — were reelected Tuesday night.
In the race for U.S. House District 16, which encompasses the majority of El Paso, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar easily won with 63% of the vote. Her opponent, Republican Irene Armendariz-Jackson, also unsuccessfully challenged Escobar in 2020.
Late Tuesday night, Escobar said she was ready to get back to work.
“The work ahead is clear: ensuring that our community benefits from the historic legislation we passed under President Biden – for infrastructure, innovation, manufacturing and climate,” she said. “I remain deeply committed to fighting to preserve our hard-fought freedoms, which are under attack, supporting our veterans, working on gun violence prevention legislation and immigration reform in order to alleviate the pressures at our southern border.”
While both candidates in District 16 said the economy was the key issue, their local campaigns mirrored the national partisan divides. Escobar, like most Democrats, was in favor of abortion rights, was pushing for gun safety legislation and said that comprehensive immigration reform is needed. Meanwhile, Armendariz-Jackson remained focused on national GOP issues, including opposing abortion and any assault weapon bans.
In the race to represent U.S. House District 23, which stretches from east El Paso to San Antonio, Republican Congressman Tony Gonzales was elected with 56% of the vote in the district.
“I am honored by the faith the people of TX-23 have placed in me to serve them again. I will not let them down,” Gonzales said. “This campaign was based on a simple idea – show up, be genuine, get things done, and the rest will take care of itself.”
Democrat John Lira won 52% of the vote in the parts of El Paso County that are in the district, but it was not enough to offset Gonzales’ strength in other parts of the district.
Escobar and Gonzales both outraised their opponents. The national Democratic Party largely ignored the U.S. House District 23 race in favor of more competitive South Texas congressional races. The Texas Legislature redrew District 23’s boundaries last year to make the longtime swing district more winnable for Republicans.
