For all the attention the Republican Party paid to the Rio GrandeValley leading up to the Nov. 8 midterm elections, voters gave a clear message that the region remains a deep Democratic blue. The predicted red Republican wave didn’t happen.
Gov. Greg Abbott’s no-show at a Wednesday conference scheduled in the Valley by one of his top political action committees said it all: He might have won his race for reelection, but he and his party still haven’t won the war for South Texas. While he defeated challenger Beto O’Rourke handily statewide, Abbott lost every Valley county on election night.
This was despite his attention to the region that bordered on the obsessive. Abbott announced his reelection bid here, made dozens of campaign trips here, negotiated to have the only campaign debate here, and was here on election night to celebrate his victory.
“We planted our flag in South Texas,” the governor said Tuesday During his victory party at McAllen’s Quinta Mazatlan.
The numbers didn’t reward the optimism that began with Donald Trump’s strong showing in the region in the 2016 and 2020 elections, and the success of Mayra Flores, who was elected last year to fill the unexpired U.S. House District 34 seat vacated by Brownsville Democrat Filemon Vela. This inspired Republicans at the national level, who traditionally had conceded South Texas as unwinnable, to make the region its primary target this year and moving toward 2024.
Tuesday’s results might leave some party officials thinking that the payoff didn’t adequately reward their investment and efforts. Even Flores was unable to retain her seat, losing to District 15 Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, whose home was placed in District 34 after post-census redistricting.
Flores and other Republicans deserve praise and thanks for the manner in which they accepted the results. Some candidates aligned themselves with Trump and his followers who continue making unsupported claims of voter fraud in previous elections, and raised fears that they might not take defeat quietly. On the contrary, our GOP candidates have proven gracious and respectful both to the voters and to their former opponents.
To be sure, the Republican Party did make inroads during this election. Monica De La Cruz won Gonzalez’s old District 15 seat, Janie Lopez won state House District 27 representing northern CameronCounty and Ryan Guillen of StarrCounty won reelection after switching to the Republican Party. Still the party’s successes likely are due more to Guillen’s switch and creative map drawing by the state’s GOP-dominated Legislative Redistricting Board.
Of course, a Republican presence has long been felt in the Valley, with party members serving as mayors of several cities and county judges.
Changing demographics likely will change the Valley’s political mix. Economic improvement and growing affluence, for example, could inspire more people to support Republican’s fight against excessive taxation against lower-income residents’ support for social programs and benefits. Greater parity between the two parties likely would benefit the region.
Tuesday’s results, however, suggest we’ll have to wait a little longer for that to happen.
