Republican Beth Van Duyne led Democrat Kevin Burge in early returns Tuesday night in Texas' 24th Congressional District, where polls closed at 7 p.m. The contest was the first election under the congressional map Texas lawmakers redrew in a mid-decade push in 2025.
A preliminary snapshot
Unofficial early voting totals showed Van Duyne with 93,192 votes to Burge's 80,547, according to Fort Worth Report. The Dallas Morning News also reported Van Duyne leading as returns came in. The district includes northeast Tarrant County, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and part of northern Dallas County, according to Fort Worth Report.
The New York Times' live results page also showed Van Duyne favored based on the votes counted at the time, while noting that no counties had finished reporting. The figures remained preliminary. The Times said that in recent Texas elections, 80 to 90 percent of votes are typically reported by midnight Eastern time, with 99 percent in before 7 a.m. the next day.
Two Different Paths to Congress
Van Duyne was first elected to Congress in 2020 after serving as Irving's mayor from 2011 to 2017 and as a regional administrator for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to the Dallas Morning News. Her record in local and federal government contrasts with Burge's first run for Congress.
A Marine Corps veteran, Burge centered his campaign on affordability, health care and housing. Those themes put household costs and services at the heart of his challenge to the incumbent.
The map behind the race
The new boundaries are a defining backdrop to Tuesday's contest. The Dallas Morning News reported that Texas' 2025 mid-decade redistricting was intended to increase the Republican Party's statewide advantage. Before the new maps took effect, Republicans held 25 of Texas' 38 U.S. House seats, while Democrats held 13.
The Texas Tribune reported that Republicans pursued the unusual mid-decade redistricting with the goal of gaining five congressional seats. Its analysis found that Donald Trump would have carried 79% of the state's congressional districts under the new map based on past election results, compared with 71% under the previous map, according to The Texas Tribune.
A recent turnout benchmark
For context on participation in the area, Tarrant County Elections reports that 828,544 of 1,299,023 registered voters took part in the county's 2024 Joint General and Special Election, a turnout rate of 63.78%, according to Tarrant County Elections.
The totals remain unofficial, and the pace of outstanding counts in the 24th District was unclear as of the latest reporting. The Dallas Morning News directed readers to its website for updated results across Texas races.
