After Democrats underperformed nationally and in Texas, the McAllen Democrat had some sharp commentary for his party and said he won't be taking their advice.

Republicans had a big night in South Texas, flipping predominately Hispanic counties along the US-Mexico border.

Both major parties poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into winning the seat, a rematch between Mayra Flores and Vicente Gonzalez.

During a tense debate with U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, Flores attacked Gonzalez for being soft on border security, then suggested requiring residents to prove citizenship in some instances was appropriate.

In their only debate before Election Day, Gonzalez and Flores traded jabs over the economy, immigration and abortion, and regularly spoke over each other.

Flores briefly represented the district after winning a 2022 special election. Gonzalez went on to beat her by nearly 9 points in the general.

The same candidates will be running in Texas’ 15th and 34th Congressional Districts, though the presidential and Senate races could mix things up.

The small business owner featured in the ad previously shared memes calling 9/11 and the COVID-19 pandemic inside jobs and mocking U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw.

Republicans view Flores’ race against Democrat Rep. Vicente Gonzalez as potentially competitive race.

The move is a shift in strategy for Republicans who previously focused on other South Texas races even after federal authorities filed criminal charges against the Democrat.

Furman won the Republican nomination in a runoff against Lazaro Garza. Cuellar’s criminal charges have suddenly made it a high-profile race.

Instead, Republicans are trying to tie Cuellar’s allegations of bribery and corruption to Democrats in other competitive races in South Texas.

Despite being indicted on charges of bribery, money laundering and working on behalf of a foreign government, Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar is not facing widespread calls for his resignation.

National Republicans are investing heavily in Flores’ bid to unseat U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez in South Texas.

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called the trial the “least legitimate, least substantive, and most politicized impeachment trial in the history of the United States.”

The South Texas Democrat said Latinos who support former President Donald Trump are voting against their self interest, but Republicans recoiled at the comparison.

Gonzalez’ campaign sent mailers to GOP voters suggesting a candidate who has raised no money would be harder to defeat this November than Flores.

The former Republican congresswoman is running for her former seat representing the 34th congressional district.

Flores, who is challenging U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez for her old seat, is being accused of routinely stealing stylish photos of Mexican campfire cooking and passing them off as her own idyllic life on a ranch.

Republicans recently announced Mayra Flores’ comeback effort with great fanfare, but Democrats argue that a redrawn district — and Flores’ voting record — are hurdles the GOP can’t clear.

Flores won a special election in 2022 but lost to U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, a Democrat, five months later in the general election. Redistricting may complicate her comeback.

The Los Indios Republican won a special election in 2022 but lost to U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez five months later in the general election.

The Secure the Border Act would resume construction of the border wall, limit asylum eligibility and require asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico. It faces tough going in the Senate.

The U.S. House Democratic campaign arm will target the 15th Congressional District in next year’s elections, hoping to reclaim the seat from Republican Rep. Monica De La Cruz, the first Republican ever to represent the district.

Congressional Republicans’ campaign arm will make another effort to unseat the South Texas Democrat who ran in one of the state’s most competitive races last year.

After finally flipping the Democratic district, Monica De La Cruz vowed to “represent all of South Texas” and likely will be influential on border issues.

The GOP flipped only one of the three congressional seats it wanted this cycle. But the party made inroads down the ballot.

The Democratic congressman ousted Rep. Mayra Flores, R-Los Indios, who had won a special election in June. The race was key to Republican efforts to win over Hispanic voters in South Texas.

While the GOP focuses on the border and economy under President Joe Biden, Democrats are hoping to prove polls and political forecasters wrong by tapping into anger over the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the Uvalde school shooting.

Border Democrats in Texas held the line in two key House races.

Democrats are spending big to stop Republicans from flipping any of the three key battleground seats that have historically gone blue.

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus bylaws explicitly block Republicans from joining due to major policy differences between members in the past.

The three GOP candidates raked in a combined $4.3 million over the past three months, and their Democratic competitors got $2.4 million together, according to new campaign finance filings.

“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.”

The seasoned South Texas Democrat is running his most aggressive campaign operation since his first run for Congress.

In two of the three races, Democrats are hitting back as outside Republican groups try to turn the region red.

Progressive Democrat Michelle Vallejo and conservative Republican Monica De La Cruz face off in a South Texas district long represented by moderate Democrats.

In Texas, married couples generally can claim only one such exemption, meant to provide some tax relief on properties considered “principal residences.” Homestead exemptions cannot typically be claimed on commercial properties, second homes or income properties.

The bill would invest billions into issues acutely impacting Texas, including climate change and health care, and is the result of months of intraparty fighting between moderates and progressives.

Gas prices are falling but still high.

A Mexican immigrant who worked in cotton fields to pay for school supplies, Flores is a source of hope for Republicans looking to gain ground in the Rio Grande Valley. But her staying power will be put to the test this November.

U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez’s campaign has a history with the politics blogger, using more than $1,000 in campaign funds to pay him for advertising services.

It is the latest example of how Texas Democrats are on edge over the administration’s approach to high gas prices.

Her outright victory in a special election is the latest chapter in a topsy-turvy election cycle for South Texas, which Republicans have worked to turn into a new battleground.

The GOP is spending big to capture an open congressional seat in South Texas — if only for a few months — as they try to create momentum toward a November election where they are newly targeting the region.

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.

The seats in question are held by U.S. Reps. Henry Cuellar of Laredo and Vicente Gonzalez of McAllen. A third vacant seat recently belonged to Filemon Vela of Brownsville, who stepped down to take a private sector lobbying job.

The winner of the special election will replace former U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela, D-Brownsville, who resigned last month to work for Akin Gump.

Trucks delivering products from Mexico are facing hourslong waits at ports of entry.

The race will determine who finishes the term of former U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela, D-Brownsville.

A special election will determine who finishes Vela’s term, and while the winner will only serve for a short period, Republicans are already eyeing the contest to show momentum in South Texas.

Find the latest, updated election results for the 2022 primary election in Texas on March 1, 2022.

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.

KSAT 12 analyzed the campaign finance reports of congressional candidates in the San Antonio area, revealing who has the fundraising advantage heading into the primary.

Garza, a former lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, had been running to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela, D-Brownsville. U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen, is now running for Vela's seat after redistricting made Gonzalez's seat more competitive for Republicans.

U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez announced last week he’ll seek reelection in a new seat, leaving his 15th Congressional District open for the 2022 election. Candidate filing begins Nov. 13.

Texas lawmakers made Gonzalez’s current 15th Congressional District more competitive for Republicans. The representative now plans to run in the 34th District, which is safer for Democrats.

Texas gained two new seats in Congress based on population growth fueled by people of color. But the Senate’s proposal provides no new majority-Black or majority-Hispanic districts to reflect that growth.

With proposed maps out, U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen, says he might switch to a neighboring district where U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela, D-Brownsville, is retiring. The initial maps are also sure to impact decisions in regional legislative races.

The Democratic incumbent, Rep. Vicente Gonzalez of McAllen, had a surprisingly close race last year as President Joe Biden underperformed across the region, and his 2020 challenger, Monica De La Cruz-Hernandez, is running again.

In Republicans’ bid to retake control of Congress, a traditionally Democratic stretch of South Texas has quietly become a top battleground.

Recent headlines about the influx of unaccompanied minors at the border have only intensified the GOP’s drive to turn South Texas into a new political background. The foundation for a South Texas-centered election cycle was laid in November, when Biden underperformed across South Texas in stunning fashion. “For the first time in generations, or maybe ever, we lost … South Texas counties with significant Hispanic populations. Hinojosa also suggested the GOP focus on South Texas "will ultimately help retain and gain other seats in tougher regions.”Cuellar may be the biggest question mark of the GOP’s three targets in South Texas. Much remains uncertain, and until the maps are drawn later this year, the future of South Texas politics is theoretical.

The National Republican Congressional Committee, the campaign arm of House Republicans, announced Wednesday that it's targeting five Texas Democrats in the U.S. House as they seek to regain their majority in 2022. The list of targets is three more than the GOP seriously targeted last year and includes three Democrats in South Texas where the party underperformed in November. Republicans are especially emboldened after the NRCC's Democratic counterpart, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, targeted 10 GOP-held seats in Texas last election cycle and won none. But Biden underperformed in all three South Texas districts, carrying Cuellar's and Vela's seats by 4 points and González's by 2. And he has said South Texas is a priority as he begins his term as a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee.

According to the Congressional Research Service, the federal government owns less than 2% of the land in Texas. “Texas ... has been ravaged by the coronavirus and this recent Executive Order will hurt an already suffering community. Therefore, I urge the Biden administration to rescind this federal order and reevaluate the impact of this measure with input from relevant stakeholders and experts,” Gonzales said in a news release. Of the leases that are active, slightly more than 2.5 million acres are producing or have produced oil or gas. The letter does not mention where the four Texas Democrats stand on Biden’s decision to revoke the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline.

But Stewart and other South Texas voters who spoke to The Texas Tribune said the Democratic Party as a whole does not. And a similar swing by Mexican Americans in South Texas offset some gains Democrats made in the state’s suburbs. Trump’s statements condemning protesters and backing law enforcement connected with voters in South Texas, where a significant portion of the population either works in law enforcement or has friends or family members who do. I just think as a result, he didn’t make Latinos a priority until way later.”Some South Texas voters said they do not recognize the Democratic Party any more. Jay Peña, an attorney in Rio Grande City, said as a kid he was raised a Democrat like most people he knows.

Nearly every member of Congress from Texas has publicly condemned the police actions captured in the video. Thanks to the pandemic, House members are not engaging with each other face-to-face, which is typically vital to moving legislation into law. Despite the turmoil in Washington, U.S. House members were mostly in their own districts on Tuesday. "We can be united for change in our society and we can be thankful that law enforcement is enabling our First Amendment rights. Like the president, Texas Republicans have almost uniformly called for law and order in the same press releases where they express despair over Floyd's death.