U.S. Rep. Kenny Marchant is the latest Texas Republican to announce his retirement from the House of Representatives, setting up a potentially competitive race in the Metroplex district.
This week, Marchant announced his retirement after first being elected to the U.S. House in 2004. The announcement made Marchant the fourth Texas Republican to recently announce a retirement from the state’s congressional delegation, with U.S. Reps. Mike Conway, Will Hurd, and Pete Olson recently making similar announcements.
Marchant’s district has provided some hope to Democrats of a potentially flippable seat, after Marchant beat Democrat Jan McDowell to win re-election by three points in 2018. Meanwhile, he had previously beaten McDowell by seventeen points just two years prior.
The race is already heating up to replace Marchant, with McDowell once again lining up for the Democratic race, along with Kim Olson, Candace Valenzuela, John Biggan, Richard Flemning, and Crystal Fletcher. Meanwhile, on the Republican side, Beth Van Duyne and David Fegan are running, with State Rep. Jonathan Stickland also being rumored as a potential candidate.
