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The Democratic runoff for congressional District 15 turned into a nail-biter late Tuesday night, with the progressive candidate leading the moderate by 23 votes as of deadline.
As of 10:54 p.m., moderate candidate Ruben Ramirez and progressive Michelle Vallejo were neck-to-neck with Vallejo tallying 6,043 votes for 50.10% of the vote to Ramirez’s 6,020 votes for 49.90% of the vote, according to the Secretary of State.
As of press time, it isn’t immediately clear how many of the total votes have been counted as the Texas Secretary of State’s Office had not updated that portion of its unofficial election results.
Not much changed as of 12:43 a.m. Wednesday, but Vallejo did issue a statement that focused more on the school shooting in Uvalde on Tuesday, in which 19 children were killed.
“I am so proud of all that we have accomplished, but first as a community we need to address the heartbreaking tragedy that took place in our state today,” Vallejo said in the statement. “Children that should have been safe at school were killed by senseless gun violence. It’s a travesty that in this country, in our state, parents can’t send their children to school without the fear of gun violence.”
She went on to state that “the status quote has failed us” and called for bringing change to Congress.
Neither Vallejo nor Ramirez gained a majority during the March primary.
District 15, which Texas Republicans recently redistricted to favor the party, encompasses Hidalgo County, as well as six other counties that stretch north and northeast of San Antonio and Bexar County.
In Hidalgo County, Vallejo topped Ramirez with 4,707 votes, or 50.48%, to Ramirez’s 4,618 votes, or 49.52%, according to unofficial results from the county’s elections department.
The district has been a top target for Republicans seeking to flip a district red in the traditionally blue Rio Grande Valley.
While the race was too close to call as of press time, whoever does prevail will face off against Republican Monica De La Cruz.
During the 2020 race for District 15, De La Cruz came close to defeating incumbent U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen, with more than 49% of the vote.
Gonzalez, however, is now running for District 34 after his home was redistricted there, a district which encompasses Cameron County and a portion of eastern Hidalgo County.
The March Democratic primary featured six candidates. Ramirez received 28% of the votes while Vallejo received 20%, setting the stage for Tuesday’s runoff.
Editor’s note: This story was updated with a statement from Vallejo issued early Wednesday morning.
