Jon Bonck courts Harris County Republicans at Texas GOP convention

At the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston, Jon Bonck used the Texas GOP convention to argue that Harris County is where Republicans can still expand their map in 2026. Greg Abbott sharpened that pitch by promising at least $25 million to flip Harris County from blue to red, a county that runs through Cypress, Tomball, Jersey Village, Greater Katy, Klein and other Houston neighborhoods in Texas’ 38th Congressional District.

Bonck enters the November 3 general election as the Republican nominee after defeating Shelly deZevallos in the May 26 runoff, 64.75% to 35.25%. Melissa McDonough is the Democratic nominee after advancing from the March 3 primary, setting up a contest in a district created after the 2020 census, when Texas gained two congressional seats. U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt currently represents the district, which Republicans have treated as a secure hold and a key test of whether Harris County can move right.

The county data explain why that promise still runs into hard numbers. In Harris County’s 2024 presidential election, 1,029 precincts cast majority votes, and 642 of them went Democratic while 385 went Republican. That split shows a county where Republican strategists can still find pockets of support, but not an easy countywide path. Harris County is the largest county in Texas and the third largest in the United States, which is why party leaders keep casting it as one of the state’s biggest battlegrounds.

The fight over TX-38 is also tied to Texas’ latest redistricting battle. The Legislature passed a new congressional map in 2025 on party-line votes of 88-52 in the Texas House and 18-11 in the Texas Senate before Abbott signed it. Texas redistricting officials later said a federal court enjoined use of that map for the 2026 elections, and the U.S. Supreme Court granted Texas a stay pending appeal.

The convention itself was meant to project unity. Party leaders gathered June 11-13 under the theme “Strong Roots, Bold Future,” but the message came after a 2024 convention consumed by intraparty conflict over House leadership and more moderate Republicans. By 2026, Bonck’s pitch and Abbott’s money pledge showed a party trying to turn that unity talk into votes in Harris County, where every precinct-level shift still matters.