Erin Gamez
Erin Gamez (Democratic Party) is a member of the Texas House of Representatives, representing District 38. She assumed office on March 15, 2022. Her current term ends on January 14, 2025.
Gamez (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Texas House of Representatives to represent District 38. She won in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Biography
Erin Gamez was born in Brownsville, Texas. Gamez earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 2010 and a J.D. from South Texas College of Law Houston in 2014. Her career experience includes working as an attorney in the fields of criminal, civil, and family law.[1]
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Committee assignments
2023-2024
Gamez was assigned to the following committees:
Elections
2024
See also: Texas House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
General election for Texas House of Representatives District 38
Incumbent Erin Gamez won election in the general election for Texas House of Representatives District 38 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Erin Gamez (D) | 100.0 | 33,923 |
| Total votes: 33,923 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 38
Incumbent Erin Gamez advanced from the Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 38 on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Erin Gamez | 100.0 | 7,728 |
| Total votes: 7,728 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Campaign finance
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Gamez in this election.
2022
Regular election
See also: Texas House of Representatives elections, 2022
General election
The general election was canceled. Incumbent Erin Gamez won election in the general election for Texas House of Representatives District 38.
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 38
Incumbent Erin Gamez defeated Jonathan Gracia in the Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 38 on March 1, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Erin Gamez | 58.2 | 5,439 |
 | Jonathan Gracia | 41.8 | 3,905 | |
| Total votes: 9,344 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Campaign finance
Special election
A special general election for Texas House of Representatives District 38 was scheduled to be held on May 7, 2022. The special election was canceled after only one candidate filed for the race. The filing deadline passed on March 7, 2022.[2]
The seat became vacant after Eddie Lucio III (D) resigned on January 31, 2022, to "focus on family, friends and business.”[3][4]
The special election was canceled. Erin Gamez (Democrat) won without appearing on the ballot.
2020
See also: Texas House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Texas House of Representatives District 38
Incumbent Eddie Lucio III won election in the general election for Texas House of Representatives District 38 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Eddie Lucio III (D) | 100.0 | 35,339 |
| Total votes: 35,339 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Erasmo Castro (R)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 38
Incumbent Eddie Lucio III defeated Erin Gamez in the Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 38 on March 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Eddie Lucio III | 53.9 | 7,907 |
| Erin Gamez | 46.1 | 6,763 | |
| Total votes: 14,670 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 38
Erasmo Castro advanced from the Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 38 on March 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Erasmo Castro | 100.0 | 2,300 |
| Total votes: 2,300 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign finance
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Erin Gamez did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
2022
Erin Gamez completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Gamez's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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My name is Erin Elizabeth Gamez and I am your Democratic candidate for Texas State Representative District 38. As a Cameron County native, born and raised in Brownsville, Texas, my passion is to serve and place our Community First for a better tomorrow! After graduating from law school, I moved back home to our district and joined our small family business, which my father began 30 years ago. I have been practicing law for the past 7 years as an advocate for families across the State of Texas. I am honored to fight for my community, and I wish to continue to do so as our first female State Representative of District 38.
- I will fight for competitive wages. I am committed to creating the first skilled labor task force in south Texas. The Texas AFL-CIO has endorsed me because they value my committment to our hard working laborers.
- I stand with educators. Now, more than ever, our educator need our help. Multiple teachers organizations, including the TAFT, TSTA, TVEA, and AOBE have endorsed our campaign because they know I will fight for the cost of living increase our teachers deserve.
- I stand with small businesses. As a small, family-owned business owner myself, I know the hardships government can place on your business. I am committed to making Brownsville a destination for small business growth and sucess.
Even though we may not talk about it, I would be hard-pressed to find a citizen in District 38 who has not been personally affected by a family member or friend who has suffered from mental health issues or an intellectual disability.
I am honored to have been selected to be the appointed criminal defense attorney for Cameron County’s 1st Mental Health Diversion Court. I represent all individuals with a qualifying mental health diagnosis who are accused of a misdemeanor or non-aggravated felony. I work hand-in-hand with our local mental health authority, Texas Tropical Behavioral Health, to provide the necessary access to healthcare and medication for our participants in need. I work hand-in-hand with the Cameron County District Attorney’s Office and Probation Officers to ensure our participants receive the necessary guidance and structure they need to thrive and become employed members of our society. I am so pleased to see the numerous successful participants that graduate from our program receive not only a dismissal of their charges, but the necessary life skills they need to be successful members of our community. Together, I know that our program is helping save lives, enhancing the welfare of our community, and compassionately helping individuals learn to navigate their mental health.
I will continue to fight for more funding for the jail diversion programs and long-term placement facilities for our community members in need.
Ethics, honesty, and integrity are the three most important characteristics for an elected official to possess.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
'
2020
Erin Gamez did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Texas scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the Texas State Legislature was in session from January 10 to May 29.
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See also
2024 Elections
External links
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Candidate Texas House of Representatives District 38 |
Officeholder Texas House of Representatives District 38 |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on February 1, 2022
- ↑ Office of the Texas Governor Greg Abbott, "Governor Abbott Sets Special Election For Texas House District 38," February 10, 2022
- ↑ myrgv.com, "Abbott sets special election to fill House seat left vacant by Eddie Lucio III," February 11, 2022
- ↑ Legislative Reference Library of Texas, "Texas Legislators: Past & Present - Eddie Lucio, III," accessed February 14, 2022
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Eddie Lucio III (D) |
Texas House of Representatives District 38 2022 - Present |
Succeeded by NA |
