Former President Donald Trump is weighing on the race for Texas’ Congressional District 15, endorsing Monica De La Cruz in the Republican Primary election.
De La Cruz is once again running to be the next representative for the district, which includes a large portion of Hidalgo County, and on Thursday, she earned Trump’s endorsement against eight other candidates vying for the Republican nomination.
“Monica De La Cruz will be an incredible Congresswoman for the people of Texas’ 15th Congressional District!” read a statement from the former president. “A successful small businesswoman, Monica will fight hard to Grow our Economy, Secure our Border, Uphold the Rule of Law, Support our Military and Vets, and Defend the Second Amendment.”
The district, which is currently represented by U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen, has always elected a Democratic congressman. But following the unexpectedly strong performance of Republicans in 2020 here and the redrawn district maps last year that made the district more favorable to conservatives, District 15 has become a prime target for the Republican Party.
“With Monica, we will flip this seat and elect a Member of Congress who puts America First,” Trump’s statement continued. “Monica has my Complete and Total Endorsement!”
However, Trump is only the latest high-profile official to endorse a candidate in a race that affects the Rio Grande Valley.
Eight former and current elected officials, both at the state and federal level, have endorsed Jessica Cisneros who is again challenging U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, in the race for Texas’ 28th Congressional District which includes Starr County.
For a second time, Cisneros is running on a progressive platform against Cuellar to be Democratic nominee for District 28 ahead of the general election in November.
So far, she’s received endorsements from Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, and Elizabeth Warren, D-MA.
U.S. Reps. Jamaal Bowman, D-NY, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, Katie Porter, D-CA, and Ayanna Pressley, D-MA, have also endorsed Cisneros along with former state Sen. Wendy Davis and former U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez, who previously represented the 28th District until Cuellar defeated him the March 2004 Democratic Primary.
Last week, one of Cisneros’s backers, Ocasio-Cortez, hosted a rally in San Antonio for Cisneros and Greg Casar, a progressive candidate running to represent parts of San Antonio and Austin in Congress.
Additionally, Cisneros has garnered endorsements from more than two dozen organizations and unions, including Justice Democrats, Planned Parenthood, the Working Families Party, the United Farm Workers and Texas ALF-CIO, the state chapter of one of the largest union federations in the country.
