AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Republican Rep. Monica De La Cruz of Texas won reelection Tuesday night as the GOP showed growing strength along the U.S.-Mexico border and continued chipping away at a region that has been a longtime stronghold for Democrats.
De La Cruz centered her campaign on border security to again win over the predominately Latino and working-class district that stretches from San Antonio to the Rio Grande Valley. She was on pace to win by an even larger margin than she did in 2022 in what was a rematch with Democratic challenger Michelle Vallejo.
It was one of three closely watched House races on the Texas-Mexico border. Two Democrats, Rep. Henry Cuellar and Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, were in races that remained too early to call late Tuesday.
Republicans have invested heavily into South Texas since several counties made significant shifts toward former President Donald Trump in 2020. Those gains continued this year, including Trump flipping Cameron County, one of the largest counties on the Texas border.
“Tonight we are witnessing incredible results, especially with Hispanics across the state of Texas, and we are seeing tonight generational change in South Texas,” Republican Sen. Ted Cruz told supporters after his victory over U.S. Rep. Colin Allred.
“Our Hispanic communities aren’t just leaving the Democratic Party, they are coming home to conservative values they never left,” Cruz said.
Congressman runs under indictment
Cuellar was running against Republican Jay Furman, a political newcomer and Navy veteran who is the incumbent’s first challenger since being indicted on bribery charges in May.
The election is Cuellar’s first since he and his wife were accused of accepting nearly $600,000 in bribes from an Azerbaijan-controlled energy company and a bank in Mexico. The charges gave Furman room to make his case in the 28th Congressional District, where Cuellar first took office in 2005.
However, the seat drew less attention this cycle from the GOP than in 2022, when a multimillion-dollar challenge still ended in a decisive Cuellar victory.
De La Cruz wins rematch
De La Cruz was the first Republican to win a congressional race in South Texas. The 15th Congressional District was one of two new seats awarded to Texas following the 2020 census, driven by the state’s booming Hispanic population, and was drawn by Republican mapmakers to give them an edge.
Vallejo’s campaign leaned into protecting Social Security and Medicare, which are popular programs among her primarily Latino and working-class base. De La Cruz has touted her support of tougher border security policies, including those backed by Trump.
Republicans hone in on the Rio Grande Valley
Republicans were also zeroing in on Democratic Rep Vicente Gonzalez in a rematch with former Rep. Mayra Flores, who Republicans see as a rising star on the southern border.
Of the three border races in Texas, Republicans threw most of their muster behind their campaign to unseat Gonzalez, a moderate Democrat who defeated Flores by more than 8 percentage points in 2022.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson had campaigned for Flores, who was the first Mexican-born woman elected to Congress and has outraised Gonzalez in a race that is one of the GOP’s biggest targets nationally. Flores previously held the seat after winning a special election earlier in 2022, under a map that was more favorable to Republicans.
Shifts in South Texas
Counties along the Texas-Mexico border made significant swings in 2020 toward Trump. The rightward shift represents a changing political landscape along the U.S.-Mexico border where border security has become a key issue for voters.
President Biden won Hidalgo County, a reliably blue district, by less than half the margin that Hillary Clinton did in 2016. In rural Zapata County, Trump flipped the county altogether after Clinton won it by 33 percentage points four years prior.
The gains have led to Republicans to invest millions of dollars into what were once considered deep blue districts.
Nadia Lathan, The Associated Press
