Van Duyne is ahead in this Texas race for Congress, but Valenzuela won’t concede
Nearly a week has passed since the election, yet the apparent loser of one of the hottest contested races for Congress in Dallas-Fort Worth is refusing to concede defeat.
Democrat Candace Valenzuela, a former Carrollton-Farmers Branch school trustee, ran a strong underdog campaign for Congressional District 24, which includes much of Northeast Tarrant County and the suburban neighborhoods between Fort Worth and north Dallas. The district was pegged as one of several former GOP strongholds that Democrats hoped to win.
But, with 100% of precincts reporting, Valenzuela remains 4,489 votes behind Republican Beth Van Duyne, a former Irving mayor who was supported by many local leaders in the Congressional district.
Van Duyne leads with 166,363 votes, compared to 161,874 ballots cast for Valenzuela, according to the Texas Secretary of State’s office.
Van Duyne declared victory early Wednesday. Her campaign staff on Thursday called for Valenzuela to concede, saying that Van Duyne’s lead is insurmountable — and they reiterated that call on Monday.
“Beth Van Duyne is the Congresswoman-elect for Texas’ 24th District, as multiple news organizations are showing 100% of precincts have reported and Beth Van Duyne is maintaining an insurmountable lead,” Donald Rickard, Van Duyne’s campaign manager, said Monday in an email. “The voters have spoken and they have chosen Beth Van Duyne to be their voice in Congress. Candace Valenzuela should accept the will of the people of North Texas and admit she has lost.”
But Valenzuela’s campaign staff has maintained that Van Duyne’s declaration of victory “is premature and irresponsible.”
“We have seen unprecedented turnout and thousands of votes are still being counted,” Geoffrey Simpson, Valenzuela’s campaign manager, said in an email. “ Our campaign is committed to a full and complete count of all ballots so that every vote is counted and every voice is heard.“
On Monday, officials at Valenzuela’s staff elaborated on their decision not to concede, and explained that they wanted to see some of the results of outstanding provisional ballots.
In the Fort Worth area, there are nearly 12,000 provisional ballots, said Heider Garcia, Tarrant County election administrator. Election workers have until the close of business Nov. 16 — the date before the Tarrant County Commissioner’s Court will be asked to certify election results — to count provisional ballots.
Provisional ballots can be issued if a voter’s name is missing on voter registration documents, or perhaps a name is misspelled or there is some other reason to believe the voter may not be eligible to take part in the election. In those instances, a voter is asked to fill out a provisional ballot which can later be checked for authenticity before being included in the final, certified election count.
A smaller number of provisional ballots also must be counted in Dallas and Denton counties, officials have said. Congressional District 24 is spread across Tarrant, Dallas and Denton counties.
This story was originally published November 9, 2020 at 1:37 PM.
