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What You Need to Know About the Race for District 23

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GABRIEL C. PÉREZ / KUT

Early voting continues this week for the Democrat and Republican primary runoff elections in Texas.

In the race for the Congressional District 23, Democrat voters will decide whether Gina Ortiz Jones or Rick Treviño get's the nomination.

CD-23 is a coveted target for Democrats this fall.

The sprawling district runs from San Antonio out west towards El Paso and runs along 800 miles of the Texas-Mexico border.

"It's just a finely balanced district," David Crockett with Trinity University says. "There just aren't as many republicans to make it a safe [distric] and it ends up being historically one of the well-balanced ones where you  have roughly equal Republicans and Democrats."

Since 2006, the district has had four different representatives. When Helotes Republican Will Hurd won re-election in 2016, it was the first time in several years that an incumbent held on to the district seat.

Crockett says it would be a bit of a surprise if Hurd is able to hold on to the seat for 3 elections in a row. Despite who Hurd faces, Crockett says he will have to walk a fine line.

"If he tries to distance himself too much from Donald Trump to capture more moderate voters, he might turn off some of the hardcore Trump fans in the district. But if he goes too far towards the Trump fans he might turn off the moderates who would go to an alternative."

Come fall, Crockett says the only surprise might be if the race ends up being a runway for either candidates. "If one of the two walks away with 55 percent-plus of the vote, then that would be the surprise. I think it will be a lot closer."

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Carlos Morales is Marfa Public Radio's News Director.