Veronica Escobar

Veronica Escobar (born September 15, 1969) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for , based in El Paso, since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as an El Paso County commissioner from 2007 to 2011 and the El Paso county judge from 2011 until 2017.

Early life and education Escobar is a native of El Paso, where she was born in 1969. She grew up near her family's dairy farm with her parents and four brothers. One of her brothers, Gabriel, is a career diplomat who is serving as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim to Brazil as of 2026. Escobar attended Loretto Academy and Burges High School, before getting her bachelor's degree at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) and her master's degree from New York University.

Early political career Escobar worked as a nonprofit executive and as Raymond Caballero's communications director when he was mayor of El Paso.

Escobar was elected as El Paso County Commissioner in 2006 and as El Paso County Judge in 2010. As the district is a solidly Democratic, majority-Hispanic district, whoever won the Democratic primary was heavily favored in November.

In June 2018, Escobar and O'Rourke led protests in Tornillo, Texas, against the Trump administration family separation policy that involved separating immigrant children from their families. Tornillo is just miles from the Rio Grande, the river that forms the border between the U.S. and Mexico in Texas. The Trump administration had created a "tent-city" in Tornillo, where separated children were being held without their parents. O'Rourke called this practice "un-American" and the responsibility of all Americans.

Escobar won the general election on November 6, defeating Republican Rick Seeberger. She became the first woman to represent the 16th. Escobar and Sylvia Garcia of Houston became the first Latina congresswomen from Texas. Although the 16th has been a majority-Hispanic district since at least the 1970s, Escobar is only the second Hispanic ever to represent it, the first being Silvestre Reyes, O'Rourke's predecessor.

2020

Escobar ran for reelection. She was unopposed in the Democratic primary and faced the Republican nominee, realtor Irene Armendariz-Jackson, in the general election. Escobar won with 64.7% of the vote to Armendariz-Jackson's 35.3%. Escobar meets with a migrant child at the CBP processing center in Donna, Texas in May 2021.

Tenure

On November 13, 2019, Escobar was elected as a freshman class representative in a secret ballot by her peers, filling the role of Katie Hill, who had resigned from Congress.

On February 4, 2020, Escobar delivered the Spanish-language response to President Trump's State of the Union Address. Her remarks touched on healthcare, immigration, the national debt, the importance of diversity, the 2019 El Paso Walmart shooting, wealth inequality, gun violence, and the United States–Mexico–Canada trade agreement. She called Trump and the Republican-controlled Senate "the greatest threat to our security."

Committee assignments

Committee on Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel Subcommittee on Readiness Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship

Caucus memberships

Congressional Equality Caucus Congressional Hispanic Caucus Congressional Progressive Caucus New Democrat Coalition

2024 Democratic National Convention Escobar was one of four chairs of the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Political positions Escobar voted to provide Israel with support following 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. She has voted with President Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time in the 117th Congress, according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis. After the longest government shutdown ever ended without Democrats getting their main demand of extending ACA subsidies, she said Schumer "should not" remain minority leader.

Animal welfare In March 2022, Escobar and Representative Nancy Mace introduced legislation to prohibit the confinement of pregnant pigs in gestation crates. In 2025, Escobar authored legislation to prohibit the use of "downer" pigs in the food supply and establish federal health and welfare standards in pig farming.

Electoral history 2018

2020

2022

2024

Personal life Escobar and her husband, Michael Pleters, have two children.