In a 600-mile wide district, there will be a lively and heated race for the U.S. House in the upcoming November election. However, that race has not yet started since U.S. Representative Francisco Canseco, a Republican, still does not know who his Democratic opponent will be. On July 31, a runoff will be held for the Democrats involving Pete Gallego a long time Texas lawmaker and Ciro Rodriguez, a former congressman, who was ousted twice and is trying to reclaim the district seat.

The runoff at the end of the months will determine the nominee for the party for one of the most-watched congressional races in the nation. The district is the largest along the U.S. – Mexican border and was narrowly won by Canseco during the election in 2010. Democrats are aggressively attempting to win it back to help pick up 25 seats they must win to take back control of the Congress.

The Democratic establishment has put their bet on Gallego as donors have has well, arming the state House member with a huge edge in fundraising over his opponent. The popular Gallego outspent Rodriguez close to 9 to 1 before the May primary. Nevertheless, it was not enough for him to take the required 50% of the vote and a runoff was forced.

Since the May primary, Gallego has changed his campaign staff and says he is better off when playing the underdog role. Rodriguez has gained momentum since the May primary and that includes being endorsed by the third member of the Democrats who ran in the May primary. John Bustamante, a businessman from San Antonio helped force the primary when he won 13% of the vote.

The two Democrats have tried to stay out of each other’s way and have not spoken negative about one another. The two tend to speak more about the eventual November opponent, Canseco, than one another.