EducationUniversity of Texas at El Paso (UTEP)

Notable personal detailsManuel J. Barraza is a Republican candidate for the U.S. House in Texas’s 16th Congressional District (TX-16) in the 2026 election cycle. He is an attorney by background and previously served as an elected judge of the 34th Judicial District Criminal Court No. 1 in El Paso County. His campaign materials describe him as a longtime El Paso resident and a graduate of the University of Texas School of Law and the University of Texas at El Paso.