Voters in U.S. House District 24 have the opportunity to pick from one Republican and three Democratic candidates in the upcoming March 3 primary election.
Rep. Beth Van Duyne currently holds the seat and is running unopposed in the Republican primary. Democrats Jon Buchwald, Kevin Burge and TJ Ware are vying for their party's nomination to challenge Van Duyne in November.
District 24 contains sections of Tarrant and Dallas counties, including Grapevine, Colleyville, Keller, Southlake, Euless, Hurst, Bedford, Coppell as well as parts of Fort Worth, Dallas and Irving.
This is Van Duyne's third reelection campaign since taking office in 2021.
A spokesperson from Van Duyne's campaign said in a statement that the Irving native is "honored to be running unopposed in the Republican primary."
"Whether it is conducting the largest independent job fair in the nation to connect people with new and better careers, or passing solutions to ensure hardworking Texans keep more of what they earn and have better healthcare options for their families, Rep. Van Duyne remains focused on delivering solutions that expand opportunities, lower costs, and create a stronger economy so North Texans can prosper," the statement read.
As of Feb. 11, Van Duyne raised more than $1.78 million for her campaign. No Democratic candidate has raised more than $200,000.
Republicans have held District 24 since 2005. Still, the Democratic candidates said they like their chances to flip the seat though none have previously ran for an elected office.
Buchwald was an adjunct professor of entrepreneurship at Southern Methodist University and the University of Texas at Dallas. He's worked as a consultant in strategy and chance management.
Buchwald centered his campaign around restoring the American Dream. In a forum hosted by the Tarrant County Democratic Party on Feb. 3 in Grapevine, he said that dream has slipped away from people, which is why they turned to President Donald Trump as a solution.
"If we restore the American Dream where people feel they have a future, where people feel that they can achieve what they want to achieve … that will quell the fear and that will quell the hate," Buchwald said.
The Dallas native built his campaign based on the conversations he's had with constituents, most of whom want financial stability, he said.
He wants to address this by advocating for livable wages, rebuilding manufacturing capabilities and making access to capital easier for local businesses.
He proposes free primary care and access to catastrophic Medicaid for all Americans as the first step toward universal health care.
Buchwald wants to do more to bring financial literacy, entrepreneurship and skilled trades to the public school system.
Read Buchwald's response to the Report's candidate surveys here.
"I am the only candidate with the experience in changing and fixing broken groups of people and organizations and that has the experience that we need in Washington right now," Buchwald said.
He raised nearly $19,000 in individual donations before Feb. 11, according to campaign finance reports. Buchwald self-funded the remaining $175,000 he reported.
Burge, a Marine Corps veteran, was a civilian at the Defense Intelligence Agency and served as a senior technical adviser for President Joe Biden's Situation Room in the White House.
The North Richland Hills native's campaign also wants to focus on affordability for families. During the recent forum, he stressed the importance of reining in Trump.
"We need to make sure that we are taking back the power to the people," Burge said to attendees. "We need to be bringing back power to Congress and stopping an out-of-control executive branch. And we do that first and foremost by impeaching Trump."
Alongside campaign promises to improve affordability and curb inflation, Burge emphasized the importance of electing a representative who will not abdicate their role to the executive branch. He referenced tariffs imposed by the Trump administration last year as an example.
Read Burge's response to the Report's candidate surveys here.
Burge raised the most individual contributions in the Democratic primary race as of Feb. 11, with over $119,000, according to campaign finance reports.
Additional priorities for Burge include regulating the growth of artificial intelligence, public education reform and universal health care insurance.
Burge referenced the victory of Taylor Rehmet in the Texas Senate as the perfect turning point that could spearhead other unexpected election results. Rehmet flipped the historically red District 9 seat in January.
"We can do that again, and we're going to," Burge said. "We're going to carry that momentum right to the federal level and right to Congress."
Ware also sees Rehmet's win as a bellwether for other Texas races.
Born in Fort Worth, Ware spent the last 15 years in construction and insurance adjusting industries. His career spans working for the Department of Justice as a clerk before turning 17 to serving as a board adviser for the American Policyholder Association and the American Adjuster Association.
Ware said at the forum that Rehmet's win will help with voter apathy showing Democrats they have a chance to win.
"It encourages and energizes people here in North Texas," he said.
Ware is focused on national issues. He said he wants to preserve democracy, defund the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency and focus on affordability policy as his main priorities.
"Just now as people are almost ready to give up, they became so pissed off by what's going on in Washington, D.C., with Donald Trump and the Epstein files, that they are giving it another shot," Ware said.
Ware raised the least out of the three Democrats as of Feb. 11 with just over $95,000, according to campaign filings.
But he points to his social media as evidence of the digital infrastructure needed to get his name out compared to the other candidates.
His candidacy was not without controversy, when allegations of domestic violence began circling his campaign in early January. At the forum, Ware heartily denied the validity of those allegations, saying they were lies stemming from a high-conflict divorce.
Read Ware's response to the Report's candidate surveys here.
Ismael M. Belkoura is the health reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at ismael.belkoura@fortworthreport.org.
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