Texas' 16th Congressional District election, 2026

← 2024
Texas' 16th Congressional District
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: Pending
Primary: Pending Primary runoff: Pending General: November 3, 2026
How to vote
Poll times: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Voting in Texas
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Solid Democratic DDHQ and The Hill: Pending Inside Elections: Solid Democratic Sabato's Crystal Ball: Pending
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds U.S. House battlegrounds Federal and state primary competitiveness Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2026
See also
Texas' 16th Congressional District U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th • 7th • 8th • 9th • 10th • 11th • 12th • 13th • 14th • 15th • 16th • 17th • 18th • 19th • 20th • 21st • 22nd • 23rd • 24th • 25th • 26th • 27th • 28th • 29th • 30th • 31st • 32nd • 33rd • 34th • 35th • 36th • 37th • 38th Texas elections, 2026 U.S. Congress elections, 2026 U.S. Senate elections, 2026 U.S. House elections, 2026 Alabama U.S. House racesAlaska U.S. House raceArizona U.S. House racesArkansas U.S. House racesCalifornia U.S. House racesColorado U.S. House racesConnecticut U.S. House racesDelaware U.S. House raceFlorida U.S. House racesGeorgia U.S. House racesHawaii U.S. House racesIdaho U.S. House racesIllinois U.S. House racesIndiana U.S. House racesIowa U.S. House racesKansas U.S. House racesKentucky U.S. House racesLouisiana U.S. House racesMaine U.S. House racesMaryland U.S. House racesMassachusetts U.S. House racesMichigan U.S. House racesMinnesota U.S. House racesMississippi U.S. House racesMissouri U.S. House racesMontana U.S. House racesNebraska U.S. House racesNevada U.S. House racesNew Hampshire U.S. House racesNew Jersey U.S. House racesNew Mexico U.S. House racesNew York U.S. House racesNorth Carolina U.S. House racesNorth Dakota U.S. House raceOhio U.S. House racesOklahoma U.S. House racesOregon U.S. House racesPennsylvania U.S. House racesRhode Island U.S. House racesSouth Carolina U.S. House racesSouth Dakota U.S. House raceTennessee U.S. House racesTexas U.S. House racesUtah U.S. House racesVermont U.S. House raceVirginia U.S. House racesWashington U.S. House racesWest Virginia U.S. House racesWisconsin U.S. House racesWyoming U.S. House raceSubmit

All U.S. House districts, including the 16th Congressional District of Texas, are holding elections in 2026. The general election is November 3, 2026.

To learn more about other elections on the ballot, click here.

Candidates and election results

Note: The following list includes official candidates only. Ballotpedia defines official candidates as people who:

• Register with a federal or state campaign finance agency before the candidate filing deadline
• Appear on candidate lists released by government election agencies

Note: At this time, Ballotpedia is combining all declared candidates for this election into one list under a general election heading. As primary election dates are published, this information will be updated to separate general election candidates from primary candidates as appropriate.

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

General election for U.S. House Texas District 16

Incumbent Veronica Escobar and Deliris Montanez are running in the general election for U.S. House Texas District 16 on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		Veronica Escobar (D)
		Deliris Montanez (R)

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Candidate profiles

There are currently no candidate profiles created for this race. Candidate profiles will appear here as they are created. Encourage the candidates in this race to complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey so that their profile will appear here.

Voting information

See also: Voting in Texas

Ballotpedia will publish the dates and deadlines related to this election as they are made available.

Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

No candidate in this race has completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Ballotpedia is seeking 100 percent participation so voters can learn more about all the candidates on their ballots.

Campaign finance

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
Veronica Escobar	Democratic Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Deliris Montanez	Republican Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2026. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC). * According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." ** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election. *** Candidate either did not report any receipts or disbursements to the FEC, or Ballotpedia did not find an FEC candidate ID.

General election race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods

Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:

• Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
• Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
• Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.
• Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.

Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.

Race ratings: Texas' 16th Congressional District election, 2026
Race tracker	Race ratings
	3/18/2025	3/11/2025	3/4/2025	2/25/2025
The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic
Decision Desk HQ and The Hill	Pending	Pending	Pending	Pending
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Solid Democratic	Pending	Pending	Pending
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Pending	Pending	Pending	Pending
Note: Ballotpedia reviews external race ratings every week throughout the election season and posts weekly updates even if the media outlets have not revised their ratings during that week.

Ballot access

This section will contain information on ballot access related to this state's elections when it is available.

District history

The section below details election results for this office in elections dating back to 2020.

2024

See also: Texas' 16th Congressional District election, 2024

Texas' 16th Congressional District election, 2024 (March 5 Republican primary)

Texas' 16th Congressional District election, 2024 (March 5 Democratic primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House Texas District 16

Incumbent Veronica Escobar defeated Irene Armendariz-Jackson and Deliris Montanez in the general election for U.S. House Texas District 16 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Veronica Escobar (D)	59.5	131,391
		Irene Armendariz-Jackson (R)	40.4	89,281
		Deliris Montanez (Independent) (Write-in)	0.1	156

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 220,828
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 16

Incumbent Veronica Escobar defeated Leeland White in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 16 on March 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Veronica Escobar	86.3	28,129
	Submit photo	Leeland White	13.7	4,470

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 32,599
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 16

Irene Armendariz-Jackson advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 16 on March 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Irene Armendariz-Jackson	100.0	15,553

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 15,553
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Deliris Montanez (R)

2022

See also: Texas' 16th Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House Texas District 16

Incumbent Veronica Escobar defeated Irene Armendariz-Jackson in the general election for U.S. House Texas District 16 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Veronica Escobar (D)	63.5	95,510
		Irene Armendariz-Jackson (R)	36.5	54,986

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 150,496
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Samuel Williams Jr. (Independent)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 16

Incumbent Veronica Escobar defeated Deliris Montanez in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 16 on March 1, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Veronica Escobar	88.0	30,954
		Deliris Montanez	12.0	4,235

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 35,189
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 16

Irene Armendariz-Jackson advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 16 on March 1, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Irene Armendariz-Jackson	100.0	12,623

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 12,623
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Samuel Williams Jr. (R)

2020

See also: Texas' 16th Congressional District election, 2020

General election

General election for U.S. House Texas District 16

Incumbent Veronica Escobar defeated Irene Armendariz-Jackson in the general election for U.S. House Texas District 16 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Veronica Escobar (D)	64.7	154,108
		Irene Armendariz-Jackson (R)	35.3	84,006

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 238,114
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Ben Leder (L)

Republican primary runoff election

Republican primary runoff for U.S. House Texas District 16

Irene Armendariz-Jackson defeated Samuel Williams Jr. in the Republican primary runoff for U.S. House Texas District 16 on July 14, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Irene Armendariz-Jackson	65.4	5,170
		Samuel Williams Jr.	34.6	2,731

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 7,901
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 16

Incumbent Veronica Escobar advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 16 on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Veronica Escobar	100.0	54,910

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 54,910
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Jorge Artalejo (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 16

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 16 on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Samuel Williams Jr.	31.3	5,097
✔		Irene Armendariz-Jackson	25.4	4,147
		Anthony Aguero	13.4	2,184
	Submit photo	Jaime Arriola Jr.	13.0	2,115
		Blanca Ortiz Trout	10.2	1,662
		Patrick Hernandez-Cigarruista	6.7	1,100

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 16,305
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for U.S. House Texas District 16

Ben Leder advanced from the Libertarian convention for U.S. House Texas District 16 on March 21, 2020.

		Candidate
✔		Ben Leder (L)

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

District analysis

This section will contain facts and figures related to this district's elections when those are available.

See also

Texas	2026 primaries	2026 U.S. Congress elections
Texas congressional delegation Voting in Texas Texas elections: 2026 • 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018	Democratic primary battlegrounds Republican primary battlegrounds U.S. Senate Democratic primaries U.S. Senate Republican primaries U.S. House Democratic primaries U.S. House Republican primaries	U.S. Congress elections U.S. Senate elections U.S. House elections Special elections Ballot access

External links

• Search Google News for this topic

Footnotes

[show]

Texas' current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

John Cornyn (R)

Ted Cruz (R)

Representatives

District 1

Nathaniel Moran (R)

District 2

Daniel Crenshaw (R)

District 3

Keith Self (R)

District 4

Pat Fallon (R)

District 5

Lance Gooden (R)

District 6

Jake Ellzey (R)

District 7

Lizzie Fletcher (D)

District 8

Morgan Luttrell (R)

District 9

Al Green (D)

District 10

Michael McCaul (R)

District 11

August Pfluger (R)

District 12

Craig Goldman (R)

District 13

Ronny Jackson (R)

District 14

Randy Weber (R)

District 15

Monica De La Cruz (R)

District 16

Veronica Escobar (D)

District 17

Pete Sessions (R)

District 18

Vacant

District 19

Jodey Arrington (R)

District 20

Joaquin Castro (D)

District 21

Chip Roy (R)

District 22

Troy Nehls (R)

District 23

Tony Gonzales (R)

District 24

Beth Van Duyne (R)

District 25

Roger Williams (R)

District 26

Brandon Gill (R)

District 27

Michael Cloud (R)

District 28

Henry Cuellar (D)

District 29

Sylvia Garcia (D)

District 30

Jasmine Crockett (D)

District 31

John Carter (R)

District 32

Julie Johnson (D)

District 33

Marc Veasey (D)

District 34

Vicente Gonzalez (D)

District 35

Greg Casar (D)

District 36

Brian Babin (R)

District 37

Lloyd Doggett (D)

District 38

Wesley Hunt (R)

Republican Party (27)

Democratic Party (12)

Vacancies (1)