After the July runoff election results left the two candidates separated by only a handful of votes, a Republican congressional nomination fight has taken a new turn, with candidate Raul Reyes filing for a recount.
Texas’ 23rd Congressional District is a vast area spanning along the border from the suburbs of San Antonio to the mountains of Big Bend. The seat is currently held by retiring Republican U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, and the district has had an electoral history of being decided by narrow margins.
July’s election results followed that trend. Data from the Texas Secretary of State showed candidate Tony Gonzales leading Raul Reyes by a mere 45-vote difference out of the nearly 25,000 votes cast in the race.
This was a remarkable feat for Reyes, who was considered the underdog candidate in the race in regards to funding, but sources indicate Reyes ran a strong grassroots campaign.
Texas Scorecard profiled the two candidates earlier during the election, with Gonzales carrying an endorsement from President Donald Trump and Reyes having support from Sen. Ted Cruz.
According to reports from the Federal Elections Commission (FEC), Reyes received $342,916 in total contributions, including $82,000 in loans. Gonzales showed almost four times that, with $1,217,385 in total receipts and $65,000 in loans.
With such a close margin between the candidates, Reyes made a last-minute online fundraising effort to pay for a recount and announced this morning on Facebook that his campaign had officially filed the recount petition with the Republican Party of Texas:
“As of this morning at 0900, The Raul for Congress Campaign officially submitted a petition for recount to the Republican Party of Texas headquartered in Austin, Texas. The RPT has two (2) days to review and then the recount coordination begins.”
If the recount is officially triggered, the final victor will go on to face Democrat opponent Gina Ortiz Jones in November.
