Hopefuls flood into key race for House
12 GOP contenders qualify for ballot with filing deadline today
AUSTIN — A vaping-business owner, a professional sitar player, a sheriff and a former border patrol agent are among a growing field of candidates competing in a Fort Bend County-based district that has fast become one of the hottest congressional races in the nation.
Already 12 candidates have qualified to run just in the Republican primary for the 22nd Congressional District, with more still likely to join the fray by the end of Monday when the filing deadline hits. And Democrats, too, could be looking at two or three candidates in the primary for the district that both parties have declared a must-win in 2020.
The growing field of candidates is largely due to the 22nd Congressional District being a rare open seat with no incumbent seeking re-election. Rep. Pete Olson, R-Sugar Land, announced earlier this year he would not run for a seventh term in Congress.
But it also exemplifies a surge of congressional candidates in Texas in the era of President Donald Trump. A combined 200 Republican and Democratic candidates have filed to run for Congress in Texas in 2020. In 2016, the last presidential election cycle, just 129 candidates were running for Congress in Texas from the two major parties.
The district has been solidly in Republican hands for decades, but in 2018, Olson won by just 4 percentage points — the closest re-election of his career in a fastchanging area that has become increasingly diverse. Democrats are convinced now that with no incumbent in the race, they have an even better chance of winning in a place they see as another of the nation’s suburbs trending away from Republicans.
The Cook Political Report, a publication that analyzes all 435 congressional races in the country, has pegged just two of Texas’ seats among the 24 toss-up races in the nation. Those districts are the 22nd and the 24th, which is in Dallas and Tarrant counties and, like the 22nd, does not have an incumbent after Rep. Kenny Marchant, R-Coppell, announced he will not seek re-election.
“Growing up here, there was never any chance of a Democrat winning here,” said Sri Preston Kulkarni, the former foreign service officer who nearly beat Olson in 2018 and is running again in 2020. “But that’s changed.”
He said concerns over issues such as gun violence and climate change have made the district far more open to Democrats than it was when he was growing up in the area. Kulkarni isn’t the only Democrat seeking to run in the 22nd District. On Friday, Pearland City Councilman Derrick Reed qualified to run, and Pearland attorney Nyanza Moore has said she is trying to qualify before Monday’s deadline to get on the ballot.
To qualify to run in Texas, major party congressional candidates must pay a $3,125 fee
Republicans say Democrats are fooling themselves if they think the GOP is going to lose District 22, which stretches into parts of Brazoria and Harris counties as well. They say the fact that so many Republicans are jumping into the primary shows they are confident the district will remain in GOP hands.
“Republicans are fired up to run in TX-22 because they know the Republican nominee will be the district’s next member of Congress,” said Bob Salera, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee.
While the race has brought out familiar Republican candidates — such as Fort Bend County Sheriff Tom Nehls, who announced his campaign for Congress on Saturday, exborder patrol agent and former Pearland City Councilman Greg Hill and longtime GOP fundraiser Kathaleen Wall — it has also brought out a slew of political newcomers including Schell Hammel, a vape-store owner who has never run for office.
“I am not your typical candidate,” Hammel says on her campaign website.
In announcing her candidacy, the Republican said she’s tired of trying to fight all the regulations Congress tries to put on small businesses such as hers and has instead decided to join Congress to make sure that viewpoint is heard.
Professional sitar player Aaron Hermes, another Republican running for the seat, is also promising fresh ideas for Congress.
“We don’t need more of the same-old in Congress,” Hermes said. “We need free-thinkers, visionaries and creators.”
The primary race will likely see at least one more hopeful join Monday, with Pierce Bush, a nonprofit executive and grandson of the late President George H.W. Bush, expected to announce his candidacy, according to the Texas Tribune.
One major driver of the increase in Texas candidacies is the Democratic Party, which for the second election cycle in a row will have candidates running in each of the state’s 36 congressional districts. The Democrats believe that statewide presence creates more energy to get voters to the polls on Election Day in November.
This year, Democrats already have 99 candidates who have filed to run for the U.S. House in Texas compared with just 51 four years ago — in 2018, 130 Democrats filed to run for congressional seats in Texas.
The activity and close races from 2018 have the national Democrats taking on an even more aggressive role in Texas. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has set up offices in Texas to help the party’s candidates.
“The DCCC has recognized the power of these trends and has invested in the Lone Star State to build upon the inspiring grassroots energy here,” DCCC spokesman Avery Jaffe said.
Besides the 22nd Congressional District, Houston’s 7th Congressional District is expected to be another shootout.
In 2018, Republicans and Democrats combined to spend almost $10 million in the battle for the west Houston district that was won by U.S. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher. This year, Republicans are targeting the district, with six Republicans — including former Bellaire Mayor Cindy Siegel and retired Army Capt. Wesley Hunt — already qualified for a primary battle.