EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Two Democratic and two GOP incumbents who represent border districts in the U.S. House of Representatives will be trying to hold on to their seats this Tuesday.
In West Texas, U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, is facing off against Republican challenger Irene Armendariz-Jackson for a third consecutive election. Escobar won the 2022 contest by a margin of 64 percent to 36 percent. That was a 1 percent drop for Armendariz-Jackson in comparison to 2020 in an El Paso-based district that traditionally votes blue.
Democrats try to win back South Texas House seat
Escobar was elected to office in 2018 and has since gone on to leadership roles within her party. She serves as co-chair of Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, a position she previously held under President Biden.
Although the two live and grew up in the same community, they have vastly different views on immigration, border security and abortion.
U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, and her Republican challenger Irene Armendariz-Jackson.
Armendariz-Jackson blames Democrats for an “open border” that allegedly encouraged the record illegal migration of the past three-and-a-half years. The spouse of a retired Border Patrol agent and veteran says she will prioritize border security and support agents on the front lines with more training, more technology and additional personnel.
“I believe life 100% begins at conception – no exception. I stand and support the laws that protect preborn children…,” Armendariz-Jackson says of abortion.
Escobar is the co-author of The Dignity Act of 2023, pending legislation also sponsored by U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Florida. The bill represents the most comprehensive bipartisan immigration reform attempt of the last few years. It includes the legalization of millions of undocumented immigrants with good work records and clean backgrounds and would make employers use E-Verify to prove their employees are eligible for employment in the U.S. It also calls for enhanced resources for border security.
Escobar touts her input to and support of the Inflation Reduction Act she says extended health insurance coverage to millions and capped drug cost for senior citizens.
Her campaign has emphasized her support for civil rights, gun control and alternative energy through legislation she has sponsored, supported or for which she secured federal funds. She is pro-choice on abortion.
Texas’ 23rd Congressional District
U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, represents a growing portion of El Paso – East El Paso County and parts of the Northeast around Fort Bliss. But his district extends east to San Antonio and southeast beyond Del Rio, Texas.
Gonzales dodged a bullet in this year’s GOP primary, winning by a few hundred votes over Brandon Herrera, aka The AK-Guy. Herrera capitalized on Gonzales’ run-ins with Texas party leaders and staged a formidable social media campaign.
Gonzales: ‘It was a block-by-block knife fight’
Since then, the Cook Political Report and other political analysts give Gonzales an ample margin over Democratic challenger Santos Limon in the general election. Border Report has reached out for comment to Limon on several occasions and not received a response.
New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District
U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez, D-New Mexico, represents the entirety of the U.S.-Mexico border in the state of New Mexico. The son of Mexican immigrants, Vasquez has sponsored legislation in the House to enhance penalties against those who coerce young Americans to work for smugglers. This stems from rampant migrant smuggling activity in the Sunland Park-Santa Teresa-Columbus area of the Mexico-New Mexico border.
Immigration, oil and gas jobs hot issues in volatile House race
Vasquez won the seat from former U.S. Rep. Yvette Herrell, after controversial redistricting by the Democratic-controlled state Legislature. But the seat has alternated between Democrats and Republicans since 2018, and the Cook Political Report rates the race as a toss-up.
Yvette Herrell (right) is challenging U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez, D-NM, in the Nov. 5, 2024 elections.
Political observers told Border Report that probably explains why this House race has been filled with aggressive television ads bringing up alleged threats, arrests and racial slurs linked to Vasquez many years ago, and ads calling Herrell a liar and showing videos contradicting some of her public positions on abortion.
Arizona’s 6th Congressional District
Out west, U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Arizona, is facing a strong challenge from Democrat Kirsten Engel in a state riled up by recent past efforts to curtail abortion. The district based in southeast Arizona includes Cochise County, where chases of vehicles involved in migrant smuggling are commonplace.
Engel, Ciscomani slug it out on abortion, immigration
The Cook Political Report considers this race a toss-up as well.
For a more comprehensive look at this pivotal House race, read our past coverage.
