The National Republican Congressional Committee announced Wednesday that it is injecting nearly $3 million into fall television advertisements targeting Democrats in the Rio Grande Valley’s congressional districts.
In a news release, the NRCC said it will spend $2,251,000 here for TV advertisements in favor of Republicans running for U.S. House of Representatives Districts 15, 28 and 34, and will spend another $687,600 in San Antonio targeting Districts 15 and 28, which stretch north from the border into Central Texas.
The initial ad buy is part of a $52.3 million spending frenzy across the county in an effort to flip the U.S. House of Representatives to a Republican majority.
The buy includes 28 TV markets and is more than double the $23 million the NRCC spent last year, according to a news release.
“Today’s $52M investment is a warning shot to every vulnerable Democrat who decided they wanted to lose re-election instead of retire,” NCRR Chairman Tom Emmer said in the release.
Here on the border, District 15 is the most vulnerable for Democrats following Texas’ redistricting that added in more voters from Central Texas and moved its incumbent, Vicente Gonzalez, into District 34.
In 2020, Gonzalez edged out Republican Monica De La Cruz by just three percentage points to retain his seat in Congress. He spent nearly $2 million to win that election.
This year, De La Cruz is again running for District 15 and has already raised more than $2 million.
Gonzalez had his residence moved into neighboring District 34 and set off a wide field of candidates to run in the March Democratic primary, which ended with moderate Ruben Ramirez heading into the May 24 runoff against progressive Michelle Vallejo.
Vallejo has since declared victory, beating Ramirez by just 30 votes to face off against De La Cruz in November. Ramirez has filed a petition for a recount.
Should Vallejo prevail in the recount, the staunch progressive will face off in an opposite-ends-of-the spectrum race against De La Cruz, a loyalist of former President Donald Trump, who has endorsed her.
Meanwhile, in District 28, longtime incumbent Henry Cuellar edged out progressive challenger Jessica Cisneros by 241 votes.
Cisneros has filed a petition for a recount.
If the results in the recount keep the incumbent on top, Cuellar, a moderate anti-abortion Democrat, will face Republican Cassy Garcia.
She is U.S. Senator Ted Cruz’s former deputy state director. Trump also appointed her to serve as the commissioner for the White House Hispanic Prosperity Initiative in July 2020.
To the east, Gonzalez is facing another Trump Republican in Mayra Flores for the District 34 seat.
And while the NRCC is focused on the months leading up to November, the Democratic House Majority PAC announced Wednesday that it spent $112,000 to purchase an advertisement attacking Flores, who is also running in the June 14 District 34 special election to replace Filemon Vela, a Democrat who previously held the seat and resigned earlier this year to take a job in the private sector.
In addition to Flores, Republican Juana “Janie” Cantu-Cabrera is also running against Democrats Dan Sanchez and Rene Coronado to fill Vela’s vacancy.
The advertisement, which the House Majority PAC titled “Lawless,” is splashed with imagery from the Jan. 6 insurrection, and the PAC said it details her support and promotion of the lawless conspirators and conspiracy theories that left 150 police officers injured and five dead.
“Throughout her campaign, Mayra Flores has shown that she will always support violent conspirators and conspiracy theories over the best interests of Texas’ 34th Congressional District,” House Majority PAC Executive Director Abby Curran Horrell said in a news release.
