The Rio Grande Valley is once again making state and national headlines.
But this time the cable news television pundits and state and national correspondents aren’t talking about illegal immigration or the border wall — though these issues are intrinsically connected to the focus on the region.
They are talking about Mayra Flores, a Republican who on Tuesday flipped the traditionally blue Congressional District 34 red during a special election to fill former Democrat Congressman Filemon Vela’s seat through January.
Vela resigned in March to pursue a job in the private sector.
Flores, a respiratory specialist from San Benito, beat Dan Sanchez, a well-known Cameron County attorney, by 2,220 votes.
She received a total of 14,780 votes, or 50.98%, to Sanchez’s 12,560, or 43.33%, according to the Texas Secretary of State’s office.
After her win, Flores said she is the first American born in Mexico to be elected to Congress and she has campaigned on many of the same talking points that galvanized former President Donald Trump’s supporters, such as border security and being pro-life and pro-law enforcement.
Flores gained citizenship after her family moved to the Rio Grande Valley, and she has also reminded voters that she is married to a Border Patrol agent.
Sanchez had campaigned as a traditional moderate Valley Democrat, citing that he is religious and promising to make healthcare more affordable while saying he would protect Social Security and Medicare.
THE PRICE OF RUNNING
Following Flores’ win, Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa released a statement insinuating that she barely beat Sanchez and only won because of a massive injection of money national Republicans spent in District 34.
“Despite flooding South Texas with over three million dollars in far-right dark money – in a special election called by the Governor at a time specifically chosen to give Republicans an overwhelming advantage — Republicans could barely squeak out a win in CD-34,” Hinojosa said. “Tonight’s disappointing news aside, we applaud Dan Sanchez and his team for their hard-fought grassroots campaign — and for exposing the truth about the Republicans who purchased this seat: that they’re just using the working-class Hispanic families of the Rio Grande Valley as pawns in their partisan culture wars.”
In a news release following the victory, National Republican Congressional Committee Executive Director John Billings provided a breakdown on strategy and spending the organization provided in a partnership with Flores that focused on “polling, fundraising, advertising, and ground game.”
“The NRCC conducted polling in April that showed the race was winnable, but found that Mayra needed to raise the resources necessary to tell her story in a compressed time frame,” Billings wrote.
In that effort, the NRCC helped Flores raise more than $231,500 in member money.
“The NRCC and TX GOP also injected $1.1 million in paid voter contact efforts into the Flores campaign,” he said.
This helped Flores’ campaign secure more than $1 million in television and digital advertising in both Spanish and English.
The Texas GOP also invested $500,000 into an English and Spanish direct mail campaign, according to the NRCC.
“Lastly, Republicans’ ground game in South Texas was extremely effective. Working with the RNC and the Flores campaign, Republicans knocked (on) over 25,000 doors, called over 120,000 voters, and sent over 500,000 Texas messages,” Billings said in the release.
In stark contrast, the Democratic House Majority PAC announced a $112,000 television advertisement buy attacking Flores during the special election on June 8, less than a week from the June 14 special election.
Flores, who is now the incumbent, is also running in the November general election.
She massively out-raised and outspent Sanchez, who filed his campaign paperwork with the FEC on April 6.
Sanchez brought in a little more than $46,000 in contributions and also loaned his campaign $100,000.
However, he only spent $42,070.66 in his bid to replace Vela, the incumbent who resigned in March.
His fundraising spanned from his filing to May 25.
Flores, meanwhile, has been spending and raising money since she filed to run Feb. 10, 2021.
She filed to run in the special election on April 6 following her victory in the March Republican primary for the November contest.
Federal Election Commission records do not distinguish between how much Flores raised and spent during the special election and during her primary victory.
A NEW BATTLEGROUND
While the well-funded Republican had smooth sailing through her victorious special election, FEC records indicate those waters may become more rough during the general election in the newly redrawn District 34.
The special election occurred in the old District 34 boundaries, which included voters from Goliad, Bee, San Patricio and Nueces counties.
Those northern counties include voters that lean Republican, but those voters are not eligible to vote in the November newly redrawn District 34, which now includes a swath of voters from Hidalgo County.
Enter Vicente Gonzalez, who is actually the incumbent in District 15 – another key battleground Rio Grande Valley congressional district that is expected to pit progressive Democrat Michelle Vallejo against Monica De La Cruz, a Republican who is running a campaign akin to Flores’.
During redistricting, Gonzalez’s residence was moved into District 34, setting off the match-up from the veteran politician against the up-and-coming Flores after he filed to run for the seat on Nov. 2, 2021.
The redistricting brings in a large chunk of potential voters from Hidalgo County who are likely familiar with Gonzalez into District 34, increasing its Democratic base as its Republican voter base is reduced.
Not only that, as of his March 31 report to the FEC, Gonzalez is heading into November with $1,239,193.85 more cash on hand then Flores, as reflected in her May 25 report to the FEC.
He currently has $1,339,633.28 on hand to Flores’ $100,439.43.
Gonzalez has also out-raised her so far by nearly $900,000, with a total of $1,990,337.79 to Flores’ $1,099,278.77.
The pattern continues with the candidates’ spending.
Flores has spent just under $1 million, while Gonzalez has already spent more than $2 million.
Gonzalez, however, will have to contend with another massive expenditure from the NRCC, which on June 8 announced it would spend a little more than $2.5 million in fall television advertisements targeting Rio Grande Valley Democrats like Gonzalez.
The NRCC said it will spend $2,251,000 running television ads supporting Republicans in longtime Democratic Districts 34, 28 and 15, though the organization did not provide a breakdown on how that money will be spent throughout those three districts.
This is the same kind of spending that Hinojosa, the Texas Democratic Party Chairman, decried following Flores’ win in the special election.
However, he remains confident the voters will elect Gonzalez.
“In January 2023, this seat will rightfully return to Democratic hands,” Hinojosa said in the statement he issued following District 34’s six-month flip to red from blue.
The next round of campaign finance data is due to be filed with the FEC on June 30, which will paint another picture of where both candidates’ war chests stand as they head toward November.
