- First-term Democratic Rep. Lizzie Fletcher has defeated Republican Wesley Hunt to maintain control of Texas’ 7th Congressional District, according to Decision Desk HQ.
- Fletcher defeated nine-term incumbent John Culberson in 2018 by five percentage points, making her the first woman to represent the district.
- The 7th District is one of the many suburban districts that have sharply trended away from Republicans in recent elections.
- Polls started closing at 7 p.m. local time on Tuesday.
- See the live coverage and full results from all US House elections.
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First-term Democratic Rep. Lizzie Fletcher has successfully defended her seat against Republican challenger Wesley Hunt in Texas’ 7th Congressional District, according to Decision Desk HQ.
Polls started closing at 7 p.m. local time on Tuesday.
The candidates
Fletcher, a Houston native, is a former business litigation attorney. She defeated nine-term incumbent John Culberson in 2018 by five percentage points, making her the first woman to represent the district and first Democrat to since 1967. Fletcher is endorsed by the Texas AFL-CIO, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the Human Rights Campaign, and was previously endorsed in 2018 by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
Also from Houston, Hunt is a US Army veteran with previous deployments in Iraq and Saudi Arabia. During his time in Saudi Arabia, Hunt served as a liaison officer between the US government and the Royal Saudi Land Forces Aviation Corps. Currently working in real estate, Hunt’s campaign focuses on defeating the Green New Deal, lowering taxes, and reducing healthcare costs.
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The district
Texas’ 7th Congressional District is located in Houston’s western region. The district contains part of Harris County and the unincorporated cities of Bellaire, West University Place, Bunker Hill Village, Hedwig Village, Southside Place, Hunters Creek Village, and Piney Point Village. With a median income of $73,000, it is one of the wealthier districts in Texas.
The 7th District is one of the many upscale suburban districts that have trended away from Republicans in recent years as white, college-educated, and suburban voters sour on the GOP under President Donald Trump.
In 2012, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney carried the district easily by a margin of over 21 percentage points. But in 2016, the district voted for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton by 1.4 percentage points, according to the Daily Kos.
In 2018, the same year that Fletcher was elected, Democratic US Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke carried the district by seven points, 53% to 46%, in his campaign against Sen. Ted Cruz.
The money race
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Hunt has raised $6.4 million, spent $5.9 million, and has around $530,000 in cash on hand while Fletcher has raised $5.8 million, spent $4.9 million, and has around $911,000 in cash on hand.
What some experts say
The race between Fletcher and Hunt was rated as “likely Democratic” by Inside Elections, Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, and the Cook Political Report.
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