Representative Kenny Marchant has represented Texas Congressional District 24 since 2005, but Democrats are going after his seat this election. It is one of six seats in Texas that is being targeted by the Democratic National Campaign Committee, and the only one in North Texas. The district encompasses parts of Dallas, Tarrant and Denton counties.
In 2018, Marchant won his race in the reliably red district by about three points. In 2016, he won by almost 17. The chairwoman of the Dallas County Democratic Committee is optimistic.
"For the last three elections Kenny Marchant's percentage of the vote has gone down each time. That is not a good sign for an incumbent. I mean an incumbent's number's ought to be going up because they have the name recognition," said Dallas County Democratic Chairwoman Carol Donovan.
Six Democrats have either announced their candidacy for the seat, or have filed paperwork needed to begin a campaign. They are John Biggan, Crystal Fletcher, Richard Fleming, Will Fisher, Candace Valenzuela, Jan McDowell and Kimberly Olson. Independent Stephen Kuzmich has also said he is in.
One Republican, Michael Moates, has also filed paperwork necessary to run, so Marchant could face a primary. The National Republican Campaign Committee says they are working with the Marchant campaign.
Campaign spokesperson Keats Norfleet, tells NBC 5, "Kenny Marchant is working hard and looks forward to running against whoever wins the Democratic Primary."
The Chairman of the Tarrant County GOP is confident about 2020.
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"I think a lot of our voters in the Republican Party were not expecting the surge that came out of the Democratic Party during the 2018 election. We are now anticipating that even more than what we have in the past. So I think we will be ready. I think he will win by a good margin," said Tarrant County Republican Party Chair Darl Easton.
