Will Hurd Edges Gina Ortiz Jones to Win Re-Election to the U.S. House of Representatives, Texas District 23

By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2018

Political newcomer and Democratic Party Candidate for the United States House of Representatives, Texas Districr 23, Gina Ortiz Jones pushed incumbent Republican Party Candidate Will Hurd to the maximum in their November 6, 2018 Election, falling only by 689 votes out of a total of 209,519 votes cast in the race.

Will Hurd narrowly edged out Gina Ortiz Jones with 102,903 votes compared to Oritz Jones’ 102,214 votes, a margin of 689 votes to get re-elected to a third term for two years. Libertarian Party Candidate Ruben Corvalan received 4,402 votes (2.10%), ruining Ortiz Jones bid for an upset victory. Hurd’s slim margin of victory over Ortiz Jones is the closest U.S. House of Representative race in the country during the November 6, 2018 Midterm Election. Talking about every vote counts, this race definitely proved this theorem.

Gina Ortiz Jones’ campaign benefitted from the coat tails of Democratic Party Candidate for U.S. Senate Congressman Beto O’Rourke’s race against Ted Cruz since District 23 stretches from San Antonio, Texas to the U.S.-Mexico border to Eagle Pass and Del Rio and then north to West Texas and El Paso, Texas, O’Rourke’s hometown.

Will Hurd, a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) field officer out of Helotes, Texas, breathed a sigh of relief as he nearly was upset by Gina Ortiz Jones. District 23 is approximately 68% Hispanic and a perennial swing district, but Hurd managed to win his third consecutive term. 

Hurd, a President Donald Trump supporter and Republican Party loyalist with higher political aspirations, has a voting record of approximately 95% with President Trump’s agenda despite occasionally seeking a different perspective than Trump.  

Gina Ortiz Jones proved that Congressman Will Hurd is vulnerable in a future re-election bid.