Tony Gonzales is projected to defeat Democrat Gina Ortiz Jones to represent Texas' 23rd Congressional District
- Republican Tony Gonzales is projected to win against Gina Ortiz Jones in Texas' 23rd Congressional District.
- Gonzales received an endorsement from President Donald Trump in July.
- The district is one of six House districts with a Republican representative that voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016.
- See the live coverage and full results from all US House elections.
Republican Tony Gonzales is projected to defeat Democrat Gina Ortiz Jones for an open House seat in Texas' 23rd Congressional District in an upset victory, Insider and Decision Desk HQ can report.
Incumbent Rep. Will Hurd announced in August 2019 that he would not be running for reelection. Hurd is the only Black Republican in the House of Representatives.
The candidates
Jones, a former intelligence officer and captain in the US Air Force, previously ran against Hurd in 2018 and lost by less than 1 percentage point.
She served as the senior advisor for trade enforcement under President Barack Obama, later becoming Obama's and President Donald Trump's director for investment at the Office of the US Trade Representative.
Gonzales, a Navy veteran, serves as an assistant professor at the University of Maryland University College, where he teaches courses on counterterrorism, government, and political science. Gonzales received an endorsement from Trump in July before his Republican primary battle against his opponent, Raul Reyes.
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The district
Texas' 23rd Congressional District is along the state's border with Mexico, just north of the Rio Grande. The district includes 820 miles of border land between the cities of El Paso and San Antonio and is 70% Hispanic.
The district is one of six congressional districts that voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 but is represented by a Republican and was one of the likeliest Republican-controlled seats to flip parties this year.
Sen. Mitt Romney carried the district by a margin of a little over 2 percentage points in 2016, Clinton won the district by 3.4 percentage points in 2016, and 2018 US Senate Democratic nominee Beto O'Rourke carried the district by nearly 5 percentage points two years ago, according to the Daily Kos.
The money race
Jones has raised $5.7 million, spent $3.7 million, and has $2.1 million in cash on hand, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Gonzales has raised $2 million, spent $1.4 million, and had $632,000 in cash on hand as of September 30.
What the experts said
This race was rated by Inside Elections as "tilts Democratic," while The Cook Political Report and Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics rated the race as "leans Democratic."