Texans Favored Incumbents on Election Day With Ted Cruz, Henry Cuellar Among The High-Profile Victors

Republican Senator Ted Cruz dominated headlines early during Election Day as contributions for his campaign for a third consecutive term in Texas were put into question by the Federal Election Commission. The campaign now faces three choices: return the money by December 9, face an audit or enforcement action.

The controversy was the latest takeaway from what will go down as one of the most expensive campaigns in state history, as Cruz and Democrat Colin Allred battled out all year, with the Republican eventually coming out on top, scoring a two-digit lead with 80% of the votes tallied.

"The results tonight, this decisive victory, should shake the Democrat establishment to its core," he said during a speech at his campaign watch party in downtown Houston. This will now be the Senator's third term, which aligns with a distinctive pattern among the Texan electorate, as the four seats in Congress that were up for grabs all went to incumbents.

Here's a look at the other races:

U.S. House Of Representatives - District 21 - Roy V. Hook

Republican Chip Roy, vying for a fourth term in the House took on Democrat Kristin Hook, who has served as a science and technology expert in the U.S. Senate under Elizabeth Warren (D – M.A.). Roy won handedly with 61.9% of the vote, while Hook finished with 36%.

"I am honored and humbled to be elected by my fellow Texans to represent the 21st Congressional District here in the Texas Hill Country: the best part, of the best state, in the greatest country in the world," Roy said in a statement reported by News 4 San Antonio. He also posted an acknowledgement on X:

U.S. House Of Representatives - District 28 - Furman V. Cuellar

Cuellar, a 10-term congressman who is considered among the most conservative Democrats in the House, was re-elected after defeating Republican challenger Jay Furman, despite the fact that he was recently indicted on federal conspiracy and bribery charges. The race was much tighter than some of the other ones on the list with Cuellar narrowing the challenger by just 5 percentage points, 52.4% to 47.6%

U.S. House Of Representatives - District 23 - Gonzales V. Limon

Republican Tony Gonzales, who earlier this year published a bombshell report about immigrants with criminal records in the country that sent shockwaves throughout the political spectrum but was also called out for being misleading, was vying for his third term in the border district against Democrat Santos Limon. Gonzáles won by a wide margin, 62.4% to 37.6% as NBC News projects, putting to rest doubters from his own party who censured him back in 2023 over his support for same-sex marriage protections at the federal level and a bipartisan gun safety bill following the Uvalde mass shooting.

U.S. House Of Representatives - District 35 - Casar V. Wright

incumbent State Rep. John Lujan won re-election for Texas House District 118, defeating Democratic challenger Kristian Carranza in one of the tightest races in the State of Texas.

"I am really excited," Lujan said in a statement collected by News 4 San Antonio. "I am excited about this race, it's been a tough race, it's been a close race, there have been all kinds of predictions but at the end of the day, we win and they is what it's about. I want to thank the families, the supporters, and everybody that came out to make this thing successful."

U.S. House Of Representatives - District 34 - González V. Flores

The race between incumbent Democrat Vicente González and Republican challenger Mayra Flores was so close it was called on Wednesday afternoon by the Associated Press. González pulled off the tight win to hold on to the South Texas seat by less than three percentage points, 51.3% to 48.7%. It's the second time in a row that both candidates have face each other, as the Democrat also came up on top in 2022, by 8.5 percentage points.

"A win is a win," Gonzalez told The Texas Tribune. "We've been through tight races in the past. With Trump at the top of the ticket, he excites a lot of people that don't normally come out to vote."