INSIDER
In 2024, President Donald Trump won all four counties in the Rio Grande Valley, once considered a reliable Democratic stronghold.
The battlefield for both parties is again converging on South Texas, where De La Cruz scored one of the GOP’s high-profile wins last year when she secured a second term.
Republican incumbent Monica De La Cruz has been declared the winner in the reelection race for United States Representative District 15, according to the Associated Press.
The same candidates will be running in Texas’ 15th and 34th Congressional Districts, though the presidential and Senate races could mix things up.
The topic is playing a major role in one of Texas’ only competitive congressional races this year as the competitors debate Medicare, abortion and expanding coverage.
Michelle Vallejo, who is challenging Republican U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz, put out a political ad decrying the “chaos” on the border.
Voters across Texas headed to the polls on Tuesday to decide who they will nominate as US Representative in their respective political party.
The U.S. House Democratic campaign arm added Vallejo to its “Red to Blue” program, which supports promising candidates challenging Republican incumbents.
Despite a 9-point defeat in 2022, Vallejo hopes to attract national support to her race for the South Texas district.
De La Cruz defeated Democrat Michelle Vallejo, a political newcomer who ran on a platform of progressive social policy and close family ties to the region.
Clinton traveled to Laredo in the morning to stump for U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar and then went to the Rio Grande Valley to boost Michelle Vallejo, who is running for an open seat.
The two-time Democratic presidential candidate visited Central Texas and South Texas amid concerns that young and working-class voters are not mobilized enough for the midterm election.
“I’m really, deeply disappointed in the DCCC,” Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa said. “I hope they change their mind, and if we lose this election, it’s completely on them.”
Progressive Democrat Michelle Vallejo and conservative Republican Monica De La Cruz face off in a South Texas district long represented by moderate Democrats.
Monica De La Cruz runs on a campaign against runaway spending and “socialist” policies, blasting Democratic measures to expand federal assistance amid the pandemic.
Attorney General Ken Paxton declared on Twitter that he would be closing his office and “making it an annual holiday” in honor of the Supreme Court decision.
A separate recount found that Michelle Vallejo won the party’s nomination for another congressional seat.
The state Democratic Party confirmed Monday that Ramirez’s opponent, Michelle Vallejo, won by a slim margin.
Her opponent Ruben Ramirez is not conceding, saying the race is still too close to call. Counties have to submit final vote counts by end of day Thursday.
U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, is leading his challenger, Jessica Cisneros, by 177 votes, while the margin is even smaller in the 15th Congressional District, where Michelle Vallejo is ahead of Ruben Ramirez for the open seat.
U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar’s too-close-to-call runoff got most of the attention, but three other primary runoffs Tuesday carried big stakes for Democrats as they try to defend South Texas from a new GOP offensive.
Democratic primary runoffs for two congressional districts and two legislative seats in South Texas highlight the candidates’ divergent visions for the party in a region the GOP is heavily targeting.
Michelle Vallejo faces Ruben Ramirez in a runoff for the Democratic nomination in the 15th Congressional District. A nonprofit that supports Vallejo is accused of breaking campaign finance rules.
South Texas Democrats are facing an identity crisis and trying to distance themselves from out-of-state progressives after the party underperformed in the region in 2020.
