WASHINGTON — Voters in Texas’ new 35th Congressional District on Tuesday will cast their ballots in a pair of wide-open primaries to decide the Democratic and Republican nominees in the San Antonio-area seat, one of five overhauled last year to be more favorable for the GOP.
There are 11 Republicans and four Democrats running in the primaries for the 35th District, both of which could go to May runoffs between the top two finishers if nobody wins a majority of the vote. The area’s current representative, Democrat Greg Casar, was drawn out of his seat and is now running in the solidly blue 37th District.
The new 35th’s boundaries contain less than 10% of its former constituency and now cover parts of San Antonio and outlying eastern areas in Bexar, Guadalupe, Wilson and Karnes counties. If the updated lines had existed in 2024, the district would have gone to Donald Trump by about 10 points, though the nonpartisan Cook Political Report gives congressional Republicans a four-point advantage. Democrats have set their sights on overcoming the GOP gerrymander that created the Hispanic-majority district, believing they could capitalize on a leftward shift of Hispanic voters since Trump took office.
