A new poll of voters in Texas’ 15th Congressional District in McAllen shows Ruben Ramirez, an attorney and Army veteran, has the most support in the Democratic primary.
The survey commissioned by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’ BOLD PAC shows 69 percent of voters find Ramirez’ background is very convincing (38%) or a somewhat convincing (31%) reason to vote for him.
Ramirez is a former educator in Edinburg who served in the Afghanistan war and now works as trial attorney. The poll found him especially popular with voters above the age of 65.
“By contrast, a plurality of voters are only somewhat or not convinced by information about the other candidates,” the poll conducted by Public Policy Polling states.
Other candidates in the race include Michelle Vallejo, a small business owner and progressive; John Villareal Rigney an attorney and construction company owner; Eliza Alvarado, a former congressional staffer with a PhD in public affairs, and Julio Garza, a small business owner and the first openly bisexual canidate running for the seat.
“39% of general election voters do not find Vallejo’s background to be
a convincing reason to vote for her, while another 39% are only somewhat convinced by
Villareal Rigney’s backstory,” the poll states. “Similarly, 33% of voters find information about Alvarado to be only a somewhat convincing reason to vote for her, and 42% are not convinced to vote for Garza.”
BOLD PAC has not issued an endorsement in the race.
The same poll surveyed Texans on the top issues in the district. Twenty-one percent of voters said the economy, followed by border security (18%) as the most important issue. More than 800 Texas voters in the district were surveyed between Feb. 15-21 for the results of the poll.
Following Republican-led gerrymandering last year, the current incumbent of the district Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez Jr. is running in the neighboring 34th Congressional District.
Post-gerrymander, Texas’ 15th Congressional District is the most competitive House seat in Texas. The district is almost split evenly between both parties, with a slight 3-percentage-point advantage for Republicans.
Primary election day is March 1.
Fernando covers Texas politics and government at the Texas Signal. Before joining the Signal, Fernando spent two years at the Houston Chronicle and previously interned at Houston’s NPR station News 88.7. He is a graduate of the University of Houston, Jack J. Valenti School of Communication, and enjoys reading, highlighting things, and arguing on social media. You can follow him on Twitter at @fernramirez93 or email at fernando@texassignalarchive.com
