In a race for a flip-prone Texas House seat, a former think tank adviser and a Democratic campaign alumna are now running for their own turn in office.
Republican Jorge Borrego and Democrat Kristian Carranza are squaring off to replace outgoing state Rep. John Lujan (R-San Antonio) in the Texas House this November.
Previous election data suggests that House District (HD) 118, which wraps around the southern and northeastern edges of San Antonio, is a toss-up. The median percentage of Republican votes relative to Democratic votes in the past two statewide elections averages R-51% — tied with HD 34, HD 70, and HD 144 for the leanest partisanship in the state, according to The Texan’s Texas Partisan Index.
Though the district may be split, neither candidate is straddling the fence.
While Carranza centers her platform on “kitchen table issues,” she maintains a focus on abortion, sexuality, and other social issues that many statewide Democratic candidates have avoided this year.
In a similar vein, Borrego calls affordability a major priority for his campaign but also pledges to “keep girls’ sports for girls” and “keep violent criminals off our streets.”
Here’s a summary of their background and campaign positions.
Jorge Borrego
Borrego is a real estate agent and former education policy adviser for the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), a conservative think tank in Austin. He also worked in the office of state Rep. J.M. Lozano (R-Kingsville).
In his role at TPPF, Borrego helped craft the plan to establish education savings accounts, according to an interview with the San Antonio Report.
Borrego was endorsed by Gov. Greg Abbott, Texans for Lawsuit Reform, the Texas Homeschool Coalition, and the American Federation for Children Victory Fund. He won the three-way March GOP primary election with 53 percent of the vote.
Lujan did not endorse a candidate in the Republican primary, but he “committed to supporting the Republican nominee in every way possible.”
Borrego lists six priorities on his website: lowering the cost of living, keeping criminals off the street, protecting children from fentanyl, cutting property taxes, banning boys from competing against girls, and raising pay for teachers.
In August, the conservative news site Current Revolt unearthed several 2013 social media posts by Borrego that included profane terms and mentions of drugs. Borrego apologized, calling the posts “crude and immature” in a statement to the Texas Tribune, and said online that he was 16 at the time.
Kristian Carranza
Carranza is a former regional director for the Democratic National Committee. She also worked on campaigns for Hillary Clinton’s presidential run, San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones, and former state Sen. Wendy Davis (D-Fort Worth).
Carranza lists six priorities on her website: lower living costs, affordable health care, strong public schools, an end to corporate tax breaks, “respect for every Texan,” and veteran support.
When Carranza ran against Lujan in 2024, the Bexar County GOP drew attention to the fact that Carranza changed her last name from Thompson months before running for office in the Hispanic-majority district. Carranza responded that she chose to take her mother’s last name to honor her, and that the name Thompson belonged to her “absent father.”
During that race, abortion was a major wedge issue for Carranza. At a debate a month before the 2024 general election, she said that Lujan would “force his daughter to carry her rapist’s baby.”
Carranza has the endorsements of Planned Parenthood Texas Votes PAC, the Texas American Federation of Teachers, and the Texas AFL-CIO.
District Background
The district has an unsteady partisan history.
Lujan first won House District (HD) 118 in a 2016 special election after Democratic incumbent Joe Farias vacated the seat. He lost the seat in the regular election later that year to Democrat Tomas Uresti and tried unsuccessfully to regain it in 2018, losing to Democrat Leo Pacheco.
Pacheco announced his retirement in 2021, triggering a special election. Meanwhile, the Texas Legislature redrew the state House district maps later that year. In the process, HD 118 paled from a blue stronghold to a competitive toss-up.
The redistricting bill set the new district maps to take effect in 2022.
Lujan ultimately won the 2021 special election with 51 percent of the vote, according to the Texas Secretary of State, finally flipping the seat. After the new map kicked in, Lujan held control of the seat in 2022 — his first general election win — in a race closely watched by state Republican leaders. He fared marginally better under the new map, winning with 51.8 percent of the vote.
