2022 Texas's 34th congressional district special election

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2022 Texas's 34th congressional district special election
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←  2020 June 14, 2022 November 2022  →
Texas's 34th congressional district
Turnout7.36% [1]
  Mayra Flores (cropped).jpg 3x4.svg
Candidate Mayra Flores Dan Sanchez
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote14,79912,606
Percentage50.9%43.4%
2022 Texas's 34th congressional district special election results map by county.svg
Results by county
Flores:     40–50%     50–60%     70–80%     80–90%
Sanchez:     50–60%
U.S. Representative before election

Filemon Vela Jr.
Democratic

Elected U.S. Representative

Mayra Flores
Republican

The 2022 Texas's 34th congressional district special election was held on June 14, 2022. [2] The seat, which went to Democratic president Joe Biden by only four points in the 2020 United States presidential election after being solidly blue in the past, became vacant after Democratic incumbent representative Filemon Vela Jr. resigned on March 31, 2022, to work at the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. [3]

Contents

Republican candidate Mayra Flores won outright with 51% of the vote. Although Democrat Dan Sanchez was able to hold on to the Hidalgo County portion of the district by nine points, as well as flip Kenedy County after it went to Donald Trump in 2020, this was not enough to overcome Flores's gains in Cameron and Willacy Counties, resulting in them narrowly flipping red in this race after going to Biden by double digits in the 2020 contest. Flores was also able to shore up support in the district's northern rural counties, which typically voted Republican in the past. Flores became the first Republican to represent parts of the Rio Grande Valley since Blake Farenthold flipped the 27th district in 2010.

Candidates

Democratic Party

Declared

  • Rene Coronado, civil service director [4]
  • Dan Sanchez, attorney and former Cameron County commissioner [5]

Declined

Republican Party

Declared

Endorsements

Mayra Flores (R)
U.S. Representatives
State officials
Organizations
Others
Dan Sanchez (D)
U.S. Representatives
Organizations

Special election

Predictions

SourceRankingAs of
The Cook Political Report [12] TossupApril 8, 2022
Inside Elections [13] TossupJune 3, 2022
Sabato's Crystal Ball [14] Lean R (flip)March 30, 2022

Polling

Poll sourceDate(s)
administered		Sample
size [lower-alpha 1] 		Margin
of error		Juana
Cantu-Cabrera
(R)		Rene
Coronado
(D)		Mayra
Flores
(R)		Dan
Sanchez
(D)		Undecided
RRH Elections (R) June 8–11, 2022484 (LV)± 5.0%3%7%43%34%13%
Ragnar Research Partners (R) [upper-alpha 1] April 19–21, 2022400 (LV)± 4.9%7%9%24%19%41%

Fundraising

Campaign finance reports
CandidateAmount raisedAmount spentCash on hand
Mayra Flores (R)$1,722,406$1,608,423$113,983
Daniel Sanchez (D)$173,668$173,668$0
Source: OpenSecrets [15]

Results

2022 Texas's 34th congressional district special election results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Mayra Flores 14,799 50.91
Democratic Dan Sanchez12,60643.37
Democratic Rene Coronado1,2104.16
Republican Juana Cantu-Cabrera4541.56
Total votes29,069 100.00
Registered electors 395,025
Republican gain from Democratic
By county
County Mayra Flores
Republican 		Dan Sanchez
Democratic 		Rene Coronado
Democratic 		Juana Cantu-Cabrera
Republican 		MarginTotal
votes		Turnout
#%#%#%#%#%
Bee 99274.628221.2332.5231.771053.41,3308.47
Cameron 9,07247.58,87546.58914.72671.41971.019,1058.48
DeWitt 71382.09811.3101.1495.661570.78707.18
Goliad 39579.67615.3142.8112.231964.34968.63
Gonzales (part)15882.32010.452.694.713871.91924.26
Hidalgo (part)1,20342.81,46452.11113.9341.22619.32,8124.80
Jim Wells 65151.357145.0342.7141.1806.31,2704.80
Kenedy 1343.31550.000.026.726.7309.71
Kleberg 86457.056737.4654.3201.329719.61,5168.21
San Patricio (part)38552.529740.5314.2202.78812.07334.62
Willacy 35349.434147.7162.250.7121.77156.05
Totals14,79950.912,60643.41,2104.24541.62,1937.529,0697.36

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear
Partisan clients
  1. ↑ Poll sponsored jointly by the National Republican Congressional Committee and Flores's campaign committee

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References

  1. 1 2 "SPECIAL ELECTION CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 34 - UNOFFICIAL RESULTS". Secretary of State of Texas. June 14, 2022. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
  2. ↑ Svitek, Patrick (April 4, 2022). "Abbott calls June 14 special election for South Texas congressional seat that Republicans want to flip". The Texas Tribune . Archived from the original on April 5, 2022. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
  3. ↑ Livingston, Abby (March 31, 2022). "U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela steps down, setting up a heated battle for his South Texas district". The Texas Tribune . Retrieved April 1, 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Svitek, Patrick (April 13, 2022). "Two Democrats, two Republicans will compete in special election for South Texas congressional seat that GOP wants to flip". The Texas Tribune . Archived from the original on April 14, 2022. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
  5. ↑ "Former South Texas judge announces run in special election for open congressional seat". KXAN-TV . April 6, 2022.
  6. ↑ "NEW: Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, the Dem nominee in the 34th, tells me he will *not* run in this special election, even though he'll continue to run for Vela's open seat in the November election. (Gonzalez is running in the 34th after his current district, the 15th, was redistricted.)".
  7. 1 2 "U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela's resignation announcement sparks a sudden special-election scramble in hotly contested South Texas". March 24, 2022.
  8. ↑ "Qualified Candidates Information". Texas Secretary of State .
  9. ↑ Svitek, Patrick (March 24, 2022). "U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela's resignation announcement sparks a sudden special-election scramble in hotly contested South Texas". Texas Tribune . Retrieved March 24, 2022.
  10. ↑ Schultz, Marisa (March 8, 2022). "Elise Stefanik unveils new endorsements for 2022 midterm elections". Fox News . Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  11. ↑ "CHC BOLD PAC Announces New 2022 Endorsements". www.bolcpac.com. May 31, 2022. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
  12. ↑ Wasserman, Dave (April 8, 2022). "TX-34 Special Election Gives GOP an Early South Texas Gift" . Retrieved April 8, 2022.
  13. ↑ "House Ratings". The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved June 17, 2022.
  14. ↑ Kondik, Kyle (March 30, 2022). "Notes on the State of Politics: March 30, 2022" . Retrieved March 30, 2022.
  15. ↑ "Texas District 34 2022 Special Election". OpenSecrets . Archived from the original on October 7, 2022. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
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