2022 Texas's 34th congressional district special election

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]

2022 Texas's 34th congressional district special election

← 2020 June 14, 2022 November 2022 →
Texas's 34th congressional district
Turnout	7.36%^[1]
Candidate Mayra Flores Dan Sanchez Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 14,799 12,606 Percentage 50.9% 43.4%
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

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, it 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 vote 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

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

Declined

• Vicente Gonzalez, U.S. Representative for Texas's 15th congressional district and nominee for this district in the 2022 regular election^[6][7] (endorsed Sanchez)^[5]

Republican Party

Declared

• Mayra Flores, respiratory care practitioner, Hidalgo County GOP Hispanic outreach chair, and nominee for this district in the 2022 regular election^[8][7]
• Juana Cantu-Cabrera, former Palmhurst city Mayor Pro-Tem, former UTPA nursing professor, Nurse Practitioner, Forensic Nurse examiner and candidate for this district in the 2022 regular election^[5][9]

Endorsements

Mayra Flores (R)

U.S. Representatives

• Elise Stefanik, U.S. Representative from New York's 21st congressional district (2015–present) and Chair of the House Republican Conference (2021–present)^[10]

State officials

• Greg Abbott, Governor of Texas (2015–present)^[5]
• Matt Rinaldi, chair of the Republican Party of Texas (2021–present) and former state representative (2015–2019)^[5]

Organizations

• Congressional Leadership Fund^[5]

Others

• Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, Inc.^[5]
• Peter Thiel, Venture capitalist^[5]

Dan Sanchez (D)

U.S. Representatives

• Vicente Gonzalez, U.S. Representative from Texas's 15th congressional district (2017–present)^[5]
• Filemon Vela Jr., former U.S. Representative from Texas's 34th congressional district (2013–2022)^[5]

Organizations

• Congressional Hispanic Caucus BOLD PAC^[11]

Special election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report^[12]	Tossup	April 8, 2022
Inside Elections^[13]	Tossup	June 3, 2022
Sabato's Crystal Ball^[14]	Lean R (flip)	March 30, 2022

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size^[a]	Margin of error	Juana Cantu-Cabrera (R)	Rene Coronado (D)	Mayra Flores (R)	Dan Sanchez (D)	Undecided
RRH Elections (R)	June 8–11, 2022	484 (LV)	± 5.0%	3%	7%	43%	34%	13%
Ragnar Research Partners (R)^[A]	April 19–21, 2022	400 (LV)	± 4.9%	7%	9%	24%	19%	41%

Fundraising

Campaign finance reports
Candidate	Amount raised	Amount spent	Cash 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]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mayra Flores	14,799	50.91
	Democratic	Dan Sanchez	12,606	43.37
	Democratic	Rene Coronado	1,210	4.16
	Republican	Juana Cantu-Cabrera	454	1.56
Total votes			29,069	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 Margin Total votes Turnout # % # % # % # % # % Bee 992 74.6 282 21.2 33 2.5 23 1.7 710 53.4 1,330 8.47% Cameron 9,072 47.5 8,875 46.5 891 4.7 267 1.4 197 1.0 19,105 8.48% DeWitt 713 82.0 98 11.3 10 1.1 49 5.6 615 70.7 870 7.18% Goliad 395 79.6 76 15.3 14 2.8 11 2.2 319 64.3 496 8.63% Gonzales (part) 158 82.3 20 10.4 5 2.6 9 4.7 138 71.9 192 4.26% Hidalgo (part) 1,203 42.8 1,464 52.1 111 3.9 34 1.2 261 9.3 2,812 4.80% Jim Wells 651 51.3 571 45.0 34 2.7 14 1.1 80 6.3 1,270 4.80% Kenedy 13 43.3 15 50.0 0 0.0 2 6.7 2 6.7 30 9.71% Kleberg 864 57.0 567 37.4 65 4.3 20 1.3 297 19.6 1,516 8.21% San Patricio (part) 385 52.5 297 40.5 31 4.2 20 2.7 88 12.0 733 4.62% Willacy 353 49.4 341 47.7 16 2.2 5 0.7 12 1.7 715 6.05% Totals 14,799 50.9 12,606 43.4 1,210 4.2 454 1.6 2,193 7.5 29,069 7.36%

See also

• 2022 United States House of Representatives elections
• 2022 United States elections
• 117th United States Congress
• List of special elections to the United States House of Representatives

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

References

1. "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. 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. "Former South Texas judge announces run in special election for open congressional seat". KXAN-TV. April 6, 2022.
5. 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. from the original on April 14, 2022. Retrieved April 15, 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. "U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela's resignation announcement sparks a sudden special-election scramble in hotly contested South Texas". March 24, 2022.
8. 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.
9. "Qualified Candidates Information". Texas Secretary of State.
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. from the original on October 7, 2022. Retrieved October 7, 2022.

External links

Official campaign websites

• Juana Cantu-Cabrera (R) for Congress
• Mayra Flores (R) for Congress
• Dan Sanchez (D) for Congress