Texas primaries end, now what?

_{Hidalgo County voters stand in line to cast a ballot March 5 outside the UTRGV Student Academic Center on the Edinburg campus. Angel Ballesteros/THE RIDER} 

The official Texas primary results for the Hidalgo and Cameron County March 5 election reveal important high-profile races to consider for Election Day in November, many of which are rematches from previous elections.

Mark Kaswan, professor in the Department of Political Science, said the races to look out for during Election Day are the presidential, Texas senator, U.S. representatives for Districts 15 and 34, and District 27 Texas senator.

Kaswan said incumbents have the advantage in the United States, adding incumbents win “over 90% of the time.”

Statewide, Democratic incumbent Joe Biden garnered 824,732 votes and Republican Donald Trump tallied 1,805,040.

“Nonpresidential races may be, ultimately, the thing that gets people to actually show up to the polls, particularly if they’re dissatisfied with Biden and Trump,” said Andrew Smith, an assistant professor of political science and pre-law adviser.

The Texas U.S. senator race is between Republican incumbent Ted Cruz and Democrat Colin Allred, the current District 32 U.S. representative.

According to Kaswan, Allred is a relatively moderate Democrat who looks for bipartisan solutions and emphasizes his willingness to work with Republicans to solve problems.

“One of the questions with Allred is whether he’s going to be able to make people excited,” Kaswan said. “… If he’s kind of moderate, then the Democratic Party base, which is also already not very excited about Joe Biden, it may have a hard time getting excited about Colin Allred.”

Smith said voters might feel “déjà vu” in some of the races for U.S. representatives, adding they are rematches of 2020.

For U.S. representative District 15, the race is between front-runners Michelle Vallejo on the Democratic side and Republican incumbent Monica De La Cruz.

Kaswan said De La Cruz has a leg up due to the advantage of incumbency, which provides name recognition.

“If she can point to certain accomplishments and things that she’s done for her district, those are definitely big advantages for her,” he said.

Democratic incumbent Morgan LaMantia and Republican Adam Hinojosa ran uncontested for District 27 state senator.

Kaswan said since both candidates ran uncontested, it is hard to tell what the results will be in the November election.

In the District 34 U.S. representative race, Democratic incumbent Vicente Gonzalez ran unopposed and Mayra Flores led the race on the Republican ballot.

_{Voters enter the Cameron County Courthouse, located at 954 E. Harrison St. in Brownsville, to cast a ballot in the March 5 primary election. Jesse Valencia/THE RIDER}

Kaswan said the primaries are important to choose who is going to run in the November election. He added the overall voter turnout in Texas is usually under 20%.

He said Texas has some of the lowest voter turnouts in the United States. 

“Texas is not really a red state or a blue state,” Kaswan said. “It’s a nonvoting state … and so that leaves a really big question mark because what would happen if those voters who typically don’t vote, decided to show up at the polls?”

Hilda Salinas, elections administrator for Hidalgo County, told The Rider the voter turnout for the primary elections this year was lower compared to 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We had over 18,000 voters cast their ballot on Election Day this past [March 5],” she said. “Back in 2020, it was 28,000 [voters].”

As of press time March 8, unofficial Cameron County primary results showed the Democratic Party had an 8.19% voter turnout, a decrease from 16.6% in 2020. The Republican Party had a 6.42% voter turnout, an increase from 3.92% in 2020.

Smith believes the November elections voter turnout will be lower.

“I think just the general dissatisfaction with former President Trump and President Biden being the major party nominees is going to drive turnout down,” he said.

Smith said there are several favors that can have a significant impact on voter behavior. 

“Immigration is definitely a high factor, particularly here in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, where we’ve seen an increase in both border crossings and the presence of both federal and state troopers,” he said.

Smith said he encourages the community to get informed before the elections.

Kaswan said people “tune out” and do not “participate in the political system.” 

“We can talk about what a better system would look like, but we don’t have it,” he said. “And so, we have to work with what we’ve got.”

Kaswan said the only way to fix the system is to participate in it by voting and “withholding your vote is withholding your voice.”

The last day to register to vote for the general elections is Oct. 7 and early voting starts Oct. 21. The last day to apply for a ballot by mail is Oct. 25.

For information about voting and registration, visit the Texas Secretary of State’s website. 

–Rider Editor-in-Chief Natalie Lapsley contributed to this report.