2018 Texas's 27th congressional district special election

2018 Texas's 27th congressional district special election

June 30, 2018
Texas's 27th congressional district
Nominee Michael Cloud Eric Holguin Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 19,872 11,599 Percentage 54.8% 32.0%
County results Cloud:      40–50%      60–70%      50–60%      70–80%
U.S. Representative before election Blake Farenthold Republican Elected U.S. Representative Michael Cloud Republican

A special election for Texas's 27th congressional district was held on June 30, 2018, following the resignation of Rep. Blake Farenthold.^[1] Republican Michael Cloud won with about 54.7% of the vote, crossing the 50% threshold needed to avoid a runoff.^[2] Running again against Eric Holguin in the general election, he won a full term.

Background

The district is reliably Republican; President Donald Trump carried it by a more-than-20-point margin in 2016.

Rep. Blake Farenthold resigned on April 6, 2018, due to allegations of sexual harassment, therefore a special election was needed in order to fill this seat until the 2018 midterms. Consequently, on April 23, 2018, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton approved of Governor Greg Abbott's plan to call a special election.^[3]

Michael Cloud won this election, and got to serve the remainder of Farenthold's term in the 115th Congress, until January 2019. He previously won the Republican runoff for the same seat, so he appeared on the November ballot where he went on to win the general election.

Candidates

Republican Party

Declared

• Michael Cloud, former Victoria County Republican Party chairman^[4]
• Marty Perez^[4]

Withdrawn

• Bech Bruun^{[note 1][4]}

Democratic Party

Declared

• Raul (Roy) Barrera^[4]
• Eric Holguin^[4]
• Mike Westergren^[4]

Libertarian Party

Declared

• Daniel Tinus^[4]

Independents

Declared

• Judith Cutright^[4]
• Christopher Suprun^[4]

Endorsements

Michael Cloud

State officials
Texas Governor Greg Abbott^[6] Individuals
Bech Bruun, suspended his campaign for the seat^[7] Organizations
Tea Party Express^[8]

Notes

1. Bech Bruun (R) suspended his campaign, but remained on the ballot.^[5]

Results

Texas' 27th congressional district special election, 2018^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Michael Cloud	19,872	54.8
	Democratic	Eric Holguin	11,599	32.0
	Democratic	Raul (Roy) Barrera	1,748	4.8
	Republican	Bech Bruun (withdrawn)	1,571	4.3
	Democratic	Mike Westergren	858	2.4
	Republican	Marty Perez	276	0.8
	Independent	Judith Cutright	172	0.5
	Libertarian	Daniel Tinus	144	0.4
	Independent	Christopher Suprun	51	0.1
Total votes			36,268	100.0
	Republican hold

References

1. Moritz, John (April 24, 2018). "Special election for Blake Farenthold's seat set for June 30". Corpus Christi Caller-Times. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
2. "2018 Special Election, US Representative, District 27". Texas Secretary of State. Archived from the original on July 1, 2018. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
3. Svitek, Patrick (April 23, 2018). "Texas AG Paxton gives Abbott green light on sped-up special election for Farenthold seat". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved July 6, 2018.
4. "Candidates for US Representative, Congressional District 27 Special Election". Texas Secretary of State. Archived from the original on May 1, 2018. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
5. Cruz-Aedo, Jared (May 23, 2010). "Bech Bruun not campaigning in District 27 special election". KIII.
6. "Governor Abbott endorses Michael Cloud". Greg Abbott official site. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
7. Dearman, Elanor (May 30, 2018). "Republican Bech Bruun endorses Michael Cloud in Texas' 27th Congressional District race". Corpus Christi Caller-Times.
8. "Tea Party Express Endorses Michael Cloud for U.S. Congress in Texas". Tea Party Express.
9. "2018 Special Election, US Representative, District 27". Texas Secretary of State. Retrieved June 30, 2018.

External links

Official campaign websites

• Raul "Roy" Barrera (D) for Congress
• Michael Cloud (R) for Congress
• Eric Holguin (D) for Congress
• Dr. Marty Perez (R) for Congress
• Chris Suprun (I) for Congress
• Daniel Tinus (L) for Congress