Michael Burgess retains incumbency in U.S. House District 26
11/8/2016 DENTON, TX Incumbant Michael Burgess, (R) U.S. Congressman for Texas District 26, opens his dinner watch party Tuesday evening at Luigi’s Italian Restaurant. Around one hundred people have shown up to support multiple local republican candidates and the Republican nominee for President, Donald Trump. Credit: Hannah Breland
By Tiffany Ditto and Bina Perino
Incumbent Republican Michael Burgess defeated Democrat competitor Eric Mauck, winning by a margin of 35 percent in their pursuit of representing Texas’ District 26 in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Burgess took 65 percent of the vote in the reported precincts, and 30 percent went to Mauck. Tarrant County early voting results put Burgess at 70 percent of the vote and Mauck at 25 percent of the vote in 38 out of 39 precincts there. These were the latest numbers at the time of this report.
“Sixty-five percent isn’t really surprising to me,” Burgess said. “What is surprising is that the normal total vote I get for an election is in the 100,000’s and that’s what I got in just Denton County.”
Burgess, a 66-year-old UNT alum, was elected to his house seat in 2003 and has since served on key committees such as the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the House rules committee. While in congress, Burgess voted against the Iran nuclear deal, voted in favor of the government shutdown of 2013, voted in favor of stronger screening procedures for immigrants and voted in favor of bans on abortions 20 weeks after fertilization.
Burgess hopes to stay on the energy committee and hold a key position on the health committee.
“It’s going to be tough because I don’t think this district supported Hillary, so I think they will expect opposition towards some of her policies,” Burgess said. “I would be happy to serve under a Trump presidency, but I think it would be difficult under Hillary.”
In 2012, Burgess beat Democrat David Sanchez by a landslide, capturing 63 percent of the vote. In 2014, Burgess did not have a Democratic opponent and maintained his house seat with over 82 percent of the vote against Libertarian Mark Boler who captured 17 percent of the vote.
According to the Federal Elections Committee, Burgess raised $1.2 million this election in hopes of regaining his seat, while Muack has not reported any funds to the FEC.
Burgess is from Rochester, Minnesota and got his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from UNT. He later obtained another master’s at the University of Texas, Dallas and gained his M.D. from the University of Texas Medical School in Houston.
Burgess has a net worth of $1.5 million and currently makes around $174,000 a year in Congress, according to Ballotpedia.
Haley Yates and Cierra Edmonson contributed to this report.
Featured Image: Incumbant Michael Burgess, (R) U.S. Congressman for Texas District 26, opens his dinner watch party Tuesday evening at Luigi’s Italian Restaurant. Around 100 people have shown up to support multiple local Republican candidates and the Republican nominee for president, Donald Trump. Hannah Breland
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