Incumbents sweep Tarrant congressional races | Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Tarrant County’s congressional delegation is headed back to Washington unchanged.

As Texas’ senior senator, John Cornyn, won another six-year term in office, Republican Reps. Joe Barton, Kay Granger, Kenny Marchant, Roger Williams and Michael Burgess — as well as the lone Democrat, Marc Veasey — also succesfully fended off challenges for the districts they represent, according to unofficial election results.

“It is not too unusual since the overall turnover in the House of Representatives is very minimal as well,” said Allan Saxe, an associate political science professor at the University of Texas at Arlington. “The way the districts are drawn and the power of incumbency make the delegation cemented in.”

There was one congressional race in Texas that many described as the most competitive in the state — the battle for the 23rd District, which stretches from El Paso to San Antonio.

In that race, Democratic Rep. Pete Gallego of Alpine was neck and neck in his re-election bid against his opponent. Gallego claimed 48.17 percent to Republican Will Hurd’s 49.57 percent, with 92 of 334 precincts reporting. Libertarian Ruben Corvalan picked up 2.24 percent.

Here’s how the numbers look in the locally contested congressional races, according to unofficial results from the Texas secretary of state’s office.

District 6

Barton, R-Ennis, had 61.9 percent to Democrat David E. Cozad’s 35.7 percent and Libertarian Hugh Chauvin’s 2.4 percent.

Barton, 65, has represented the district, which includes most of Arlington and Mansfield and all of Ellis and Navarro counties, since 1985.

District 12

Granger, R-Fort Worth, beat challengers Mark Greene, a Democrat, and Ed Colliver, a Libertarian.

Granger, 71, a former teacher and insurance agent who was first elected to the House in 1997, drew 71.4 percent to Greene’s 26.3 percent and Colliver’s 2.4 percent.

The district includes parts of Tarrant and Wise counties and part of Parker County.

District 24

Marchant, R-Coppell, claimed 65.9 percent of the vote to 31.6 percent for Democrat Patrick McGehearty of Lewisville and 2.5 percent for Libertarian Mike Kolls.

Marchant, 63, a real estate developer and investor, was elected to the House in 2004.

The district stretches from far east Fort Worth to Southlake and The Colony and includes parts of Tarrant, Dallas and Denton counties.

District 25

Longtime local car dealer Williams, who has homes in Weatherford and Austin, picked up 61.7 percent of the vote in his re-election effort.

Democrat Marco Montoya of Austin accrued 35 percent, and Libertarian John Betz of Fort Worth drew 3.4 percent of the vote.

Williams, 64, a former Texas secretary of state and power GOP fundraiser, won his first race in this reconfigured district — which now stretches from the edges of Tarrant County to Austin — in 2012.

District 26

Burgess, R-Lewisville, easily beat Libertarian challenger Mark Boler.

Burgess, 63, an obstetrician who first claimed the seat in 2002, drew 82.9 percent of the vote to the 17.1 percent for Boler, an Oak Point software engineer.

The district covers all of Denton County, part of Wise County and a patch of northern Tarrant County that includes Westlake, north Keller and far north Fort Worth.

District 33

Veasey remains the sole Democrat in the Tarrant County congressional delegation.

Veasey, who first won this new district in 2012, claimed 86.7 percent of the vote over Libertarian challenger Jason Reeves’ 13.3 percent.

Veasey, 43, began his political career as a longtime aide to former U.S. Rep. Martin Frost, D-Arlington, before he was elected to the Texas House in 2004. He served five terms in that post. The district stretches from the Stockyards in Fort Worth to Oak Cliff in Dallas.