The primary purpose of Diamond Eye Candidate Report is to bring attention to candidates who haven't otherwise received any news coverage, especially congressional candidates. But ironically, the people whose declarations of candidacy most often go unreported are the incumbent members of Congress themselves. Some incumbents send out a press release confirming their re-election plans, but most quietly file their paperwork without making an announcement; in many cases, nobody knows for sure that a member of Congress is seeking re-election until the final candidate list is released. That's why Diamond Eye Candidate Report emailed the office of every member of Congress who has yet to publicly announce whether they'll seek another term in 2024 to determine who has and hasn't made up their mind. This article will be continuously updated as more offices get back to us. As of now, these are the responses we have gotten:

In previous articles, Diamond Eye Candidate Report has profiled the Democrats running against incumbent Republican Senator Ted Cruz in Texas. And though most Democrats have avoided the race due to the dominating frontrunner status of U.S. Representative Colin Allred, not all of them have been scared off. State senator Roland Gutierrez is expected to announce his candidacy this month, and two other Democrats have recently entered the race as well.

The first is Thierry Tchenko, who works as the Chief Communications and Programs Officer at Rebuilding Together Houston, a nonprofit that provides free home repairs for underprivileged families. Tchenko previously served as a fellow in the Executive Office of the President, worked on Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign, and was the associate director of the District of Columbia Executive Office of Policy under mayor Muriel Bowser. Tchenko's campaign website can be found here. The second Democrat in the running is Victor Dunn, a workers compensation consultant. Dunn previously ran for Texas's 1st congressional district in 2022, losing the primary runoff by a 75.9% to 24.1% margin. His website can be found here.

Texas has a whopping 38 seats in the House of Representatives. With so many races to cover, and so few of those races being competitive, it's not surprising that many candidates fly under the radar without receiving media attention. That's what Diamond Eye Candidate Report is here for! This article will list some candidates for U.S. House in Texas who have yet to be covered by other media sources.

In the 1st district, small business owner and retired fire chief David Thompson is waging a primary challenge against freshman Republican Rep. Nathaniel Moran. Moran was first elected in 2022, winning 78.1% of the vote in his bid to succeed outgoing incumbent Louie Gohmert. Thompson's campaign website can be found here.

In the 3rd district, freshman Republican Keith Self will have to defend his seat after he won it in a strange way in 2022. Self was one of several candidates challenging incumbent Rep. Van Taylor from the right in the Republican primary, finishing second with 27% of the vote; Taylor took just under 49% of the vote, necessitating a runoff. However, Taylor dropped out the day after the initial primary after revelations that he had an affair. This automatically made Self the Republican nominee, and he went on to win the general election with 60.6% of the vote.

Self didn't technically win the Republican primary, and three challengers hope he won't win this one either. The first is hospital executive John Porro, who ran for the 1st district in 2022 and polled 5.6% in the Republican primary. In the first quarter of 2023, Porro raised $7,937, spent $8,951, and ended with $792 on hand. His website can be found here. The second challenger is police officer and Army veteran Tre Pennie. Pennie was the Republican nominee for the 30th congressional district in 2020, taking 18.4% of the vote against incumbent Democrat Eddie Bernice Johnson. In the first quarter of 2023, Pennie raised $4,750, spent $805, and ended with $3,945 on hand. His website can be found here. The final challenger to Self is Burt Thakur, an engineering project manager and Navy veteran. Thakur, a former Jeopardy champion, ran for California's 25th congressional district in 2022 and took 14.5% of the vote, narrowly missing out on a spot in the general election. In the first quarter of 2023, Thakur raised $18,808, spent $2,210, and ended with $16,597 on hand. His website can be found here.

In the 7th district, incumbent Democrat Lizzie Fletcher is facing challengers from both sides of the aisle. On the Republican side, commercial real estate broker Caroline Kane has thrown her hat in the ring. In the first quarter of 2023, Kane raised $5,973, spent $2,147, and ended with $3,825 on hand. Her website can be found here. However, Fletcher won 63.8% of the vote in her 2022 re-election campaign, so the Democratic primary is one to watch here. Noor Mobeen, a teacher and former university professor, is running as a Democrat. His website can be found here.

In the 8th district, Democrat Laura Jones will seek a rematch with freshman Republican Morgan Luttrell. Jones, a former chair of the San Jacinto Democratic Party, was the Democratic nominee for this district in 2022 and took 30.5% of the vote in the general election. She currently serves on the boards of the Point Blank and Steven's Creek Water Company and the Coldspring Community Center. She has confirmed she will run again in 2024; her Twitter username reads "Laura Jones for Congress 2024." In the first quarter of 2023, Jones raised $340, spent $269, and ended with $489 on hand. Her website can be found here.

In the 9th district, Republican Andrew Alvarez will challenge incumbent Democrat Al Green. Alvarez mounted a primary challenge to 27th district Republican Michael Cloud in 2022, but took only 4.2% of the vote; Green, for his part, won his primary unopposed and was then re-elected with 76.7% of the vote. Alvarez, an auto dealership consultant, is already holding campaign events for 2024. His website can be found here.

In the 12th district, incumbent Rep. Kay Granger is also facing a primary challenger. Middle school principal Ryan Catala ran against her in 2022 and polled 14.1% of the vote, after which Granger won the general election with 64.3% of the vote; Catala is now running for a second time. In the first quarter of 2023, Catala raised $272 and spent all of it, leaving him with no cash on hand. His campaign website can be found here. Construction company owner John O'Shea is also running in the Republican primary; his website can be found here.

In the 20th district, Democrat Joaquin Castro has his first Republican opponent, William Hayward. Hayward, an ostrich farmer, has made several unsuccessful runs for public office, including three congressional bids. First, he was the Republican nominee against 28th district Democrat Henry Cuellar in 2012, taking 29.8% of the vote in the general election. He then ran against Cuellar in the Democratic primary in 2016, polling just 10.2% of the vote. Finally, he ran for the 35th district in 2022 as a Republican, but lost the primary runoff with 46.8% of the vote. Hayward faces an uphill battle against Castro, who was re-elected with 68.4% of the vote in 2022. His website can be found here.

In the 24th district, second-term Republican Beth Van Duyne faces a challenge from Democrat Francine Ly, a court system manager and former legislative aide. Van Duyne will be heavily favored to win the general election, seeing as she was re-elected with 59.8% of the vote in 2022. In the first quarter of 2023, Ly raised $11,633, spent $385, and ended with $11,247 on hand. Her website can be found here.

In the 26th district, incumbent Republican Michael Burgess is facing a challenge from Democrat Kelvin Leaphart, a leadership coach. Burgess is likely not vulnerable, as he was re-elected with 69.3% of the vote in 2022 with only a Libertarian as his opponent. Leaphart's website can be found here.

​In the 27th district, incumbent Republican Michael Cloud faces a pair of challengers. The first is Democrat Anthony Tristan, who ran for this district in 2022 but only took 26.0% of the vote in the primary. Tristan is a financial consultant and tax preparer. His website can be found here, though it hasn't launched yet. The other candidate is independent Eric Loyd, an activist who opposes the proposal to ban TikTok. His website can be found here. Both Tristan and Loyd will have a tough time unseating Cloud, who was re-elected with 64.4% of the vote in 2022.

In the 28th district, Republican Kyle Sinclar is giving it another shot in a new district. Sinclair, a healthcare executive and Army veteran, was his party's nominee for the 20th district in 2022, taking 31.6% of the vote against the aforementioned Joaquin Castro. He is now running against 28th district Democrat Henry Cuellar, who was re-elected with 56.7% of the vote in 2022. In the first quarter of 2023, Sinclair raised $18,118, spent $713, and ended with $17,404 on hand. His website can be found here.

In the 29th district, incumbent Democrat Sylvia Garcia has attracted a primary challenge from Sean Barry, a mechanical engineer who works as a designer in the fire protection industry. The general election will be no obstacle to whomever wins the primary, as Garcia was re-elected with 71.4% of the vote in 2022. In the first quarter of 2023, Barry raised $1,032 and spent every penny, ending with no cash on hand. His website can be found here.

In the 30th district, minister Angeigh Roc'ellerpitts will once again seek to be the Republican standard-bearer against freshman Democrat Jasmine Crockett. Roc'ellerpitts ran for this district in 2022 but finished last in the Republican primary, taking just 1.3% of the vote; Crockett easily won the Democratic nomination against a wide field of challengers and then prevailed with 74.7% of the vote in the general election. Roc'ellerpitts's website can be found here.

The 32nd district is an open seat, as incumbent Democrat Colin Allred is running for U.S. Senate; the real contest here will be in the (likely crowded) Democratic primary, as Allred was re-elected with 65.4% of the vote in 2022. Interestingly, two 2022 Democratic nominees from other areas in the state have announced they'll run here in 2024: Jan McDowell, moving from the 24th district, and Sandeep Srivastava, moving from the 3rd district. McDowell is a certified public accountant and frequent candidate. In the first quarter of 2023, she didn't raise any money, but spent $1,570 and ended with $1,054 on hand. Her website can be found here. Srivastava, meanwhile, is a realtor. In the first quarter of 2023, he raised $340, spent $678, and ended with $3,254 on hand. His website can be found here. Additionally, Zachariah Manning, who up until now was running for U.S. Senate, has announced he'll drop out and run for this district instead. His website can be found here.

In the 33rd district, incumbent Democrat Marc Veasey faces a trio of primary challengers. The first is community activist Carlos Quintanilla, who has challenged Veasey in every Democratic primary since 2012, except for 2020 when he ran as an independent. His best performance was in 2016, when he notched over 36% of the vote; most recently, he took 30.5% of the vote against Veasey in the 2022 primary. Quintanilla's website is currently down, but he has confirmed his 2024 candidacy on Twitter. The second candidate is political consultant Viktor Valencia Avalos, whose website can be found here. The third is Luis Fuentes, a construction contractor. In the first quarter of 2023, Fuentes raised $1,299, spent $297, and ended with $1,099 on hand. His website can be found here. This is a very liberal district, and Veasey took 72.0% of the vote in his 2022 re-election bid.

Finally, in the 38th district, Democratic realtor Melissa McDonough has stepped up to challenge freshman Republican Wesley Hunt. This is Texas's newest district, created as a result of the 2020 census. Hunt, who was the Republican nominee against 7th district Democrat Lizzie Flethcer in 2020, became the first person elected to represent the new 38th district in 2022; after easily clearing the Republican primary, he prevailed with 62.3% of the vote in the general election. McDonough's campaign website can be found here.

In a previous article, Diamond Eye Candidate Report detailed the candidates running against Texas Senator Ted Cruz, and mentioned that congressman Colin Allred was reportedly considering a Senate campaign. Today, the Democrat made if official and announced he'd challenge Cruz in the 2024 election. Allred is the first major challenger to the two-term Republican, and starts out as a formidable candidate for the Democratic nomination. His campaign website can be found here.

However, Allred is not the only candidate who has entered the race since our previous article. Businessman Zachariah Manning has also entered the Democratic primary; he previously ran for the 30th congressional district in 2022, but dropped out before the primary. Manning's website can be found here. In addition, Ted Cruz has gained a new primary challenger in Dan McQueen. McQueen was elected mayor of Corpus Christi, Texas in 2016, but resigned just 37 days into his term after a series of controversies. After several years out of the spotlight, he surprisingly announced he'd run in Missouri's 2022 Senate race, only to abruptly drop out and instead run for U.S. House back in Texas. He won the Republican primary in Texas's 35th district, but lost the general election to Democrat Greg Casar by a 45.2% margin. This isn't the first time McQueen has clashed with Cruz; in 2018, McQueen endorsed Cruz's primary challenger Bruce Jacobson, who ended up taking just 4.2% in the Republican primary. In the first quarter of 2023, McQueen loaned his campaign $10,000, spent $7,438, and ended with $2,486 on hand. His website can be found here.

Senator Ted Cruz has long been an enemy of Democrats. Ever since his 2016 presidential run catapulted him into national fame, the Texas Republican has faced enmity from foes across the political spectrum. Heading into 2024, Cruz is favored to keep his seat, despite his razor-thin victory over Democratic favorite Beto O'Rourke in 2018. However, with a dearth of offensive targets in the senate, Democrats are certain to launch a serious effort to unseat the two-term Republican. A long list of Democrats have been mentioned as potential candidates by the media, chief among then being U.S. Representative Colin Allred, who has reportedly been considering a Senate campaign for months. But as others deliberate from the sidelines, four ambitious Democrats have already thrown their hat in the ring to challenge Cruz.

Heli Rodriguez Prilliman, a tech entrepreneur from Fort Worth, is one of them. Her campaign website can be found here. Another Democrat, nonprofit founder Tracy Andrus, joined the race in late March. Andrus resides in Marshall, the seat of Harrison County. His website can be found here. Financial planner John Love III began his campaign in 2021 after previously running for U.S. Senate in 2020 and failing to make the primary ballot. The Democrat previously served as city councilor and mayor pro tempore in the town of Midland, part of the Permian Basin. His website can be found here. Accountant and coffee shop owner Aaron Arguijo of San Antonio is the final Democrat currently in the race. His campaign Twitter can be found here. There is also a Republican running against Cruz, farmer Josiah Ingalls. Ingalls lives in Cedar Creek, an unincorporated community in Bastrop County. His website can be found here.