McALLEN — The Democratic push for the congressional seat representing District 15 in South Texas got an injection of progressive might at a get out the vote rally on Sunday, with just one week left of early voting before Election Day.
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, visited the Rio Grande Valley on Sunday as part of a tour to energize young voters in the lead up to the midterm elections on Nov. 8, speaking at a rally here for Michelle Vallejo, the Democratic nominee for Texas’ 15th congressional district.
They were joined at the rally by Jessica Cisneros, former congressional candidate for Texas’ 28th congressional district, Greg Casar, a former Austin City Council member and Democratic nominee for the 35th congressional district, and Juanita Valdez-Cox, the executive director of LUPE Votes, the political arm and advocacy partner of La Union Del Pueblo Entero.
During Sunday’s stop, Sanders reiterated his support for Vallejo who is in the midst of a highly competitive congressional race against Republican candidate Monica De La Cruz.
With De La Cruz, Republicans are hoping to flip District 15 which has, so far, always been represented by a Democrat.
Sanders listed a slew of issues that both he and Vallejo supported including raising the minimum wage, expanding access to health care, lowering the cost of prescription drugs, free public college, and addressing climate change.
He also addressed a topic that Republicans are focusing on this election cycle — inflation.
“What they don’t tell you is what the causes of inflation are,” Sanders said. “They want to blame Joe Biden, they want to blame Bernie Sanders for inflation. Well, we’re about to explain basic Economics 101 to them.”
He said inflation had been caused by disruptions in the supply chain because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and also corporate greed.
“If you want to know why you’re paying high prices at the gas pump, ask Exxon Mobile who are turning record-breaking profits right now,” Sanders said.
Sanders noted the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe were experiencing higher rates of inflation than the U.S. — 10% and 11%, respectively.
“The vote right here in this district could determine which party controls the U.S. House of Representatives. And I think the choice is clear,” Sanders said.
“The choice is whether we give more tax breaks to billionaires and cut social security, Medicare, Medicaid, education and other needed programs or whether we stand up for the working class of this country,” Sanders added. “Michelle Vallejo is on the right side.”
The call by Sanders to convince family and friends to vote was echoed by Cisneros who pointed out that Vallejo won the Democratic nomination for District 15 by just 30 votes.
“So when I say that every single vote counts, I mean it,” Cisneros said, encouraging everyone in the crowd to convince at least three people to vote. “You all know that every single vote counts.”
During her remarks, Vallejo reiterated her support for Medicare for All, union jobs, and abortion rights.
“No matter what people outside of South Texas want to think or claim that we don’t have this win, I know that we are on our path to victory and we’re going to win this race on Nov. 8,” Vallejo said.
Some supporters who attended the rally were mixed on Vallejo’s chances of coming out on top on Election Day.
If the election hinges on Democratic turnout, Rene Hernandez of Edinburg said he’s pessimistic given that he hasn’t seen a lot of advertising for Vallejo.
“Ad targeting is supposed to be based on your preferences and things like that but I never got a Michelle Vallejo ad,” Hernandez said.
“The Democrats need to step it up and get the word out,” agreed Salvador Vargas of McAllen.
Earlier this month, news broke that national Democrats would not be spending money on TV ads for Vallejo but instead would focus on funding ads for races in neighboring District 28 and District 34.
Vargas, who voted for moderate Ruben Ramirez in the Democratic Primary election for District 15, said he supported Vallejo because even though he felt she was too progressive, her views compared to De La Cruz’s aligned more with his. He also believed Democrats had an actual plan to address inflation.
“Even though they use that as a weapon against the Democrats, it’s more the action, to me, that the Democrats are doing compared to the talk that the Republicans are doing,” Vargas said. “We have that issue, yes, but what party is doing more for it? It’s the Democrats and that’s one of the main things that I really liked.”
Following the rally, De La Cruz criticized Vallejo’s alignment with Sanders.
“By campaigning with the most extreme member of the Senate, my socialist opponent has told South Texans exactly who she is and why she is unfit to represent us in Washington,” De La Cruz said in a statement.
During the rally, Vallejo referred to De La Cruz as an extremist and slammed her support for Texas’ current abortion ban which doesn’t include exceptions for rape or incest.
“She has continued to disrespect our community,” Vallejo said during a news conference after the rally regarding De La Cruz’s comments on Sanders’ visit. “She has chosen not to show up to a debate, she has chosen not to stand by anything that she claims is her platform and this is just another example that she wants to continue having conversations with people on Twitter rather than facing our community.”
Early voting continues through Friday. Election Day is Nov. 8.
Editor’s note: This story was updated to clarify Juanita Valdez-Cox’s title.
