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Who is Mayra Flores? As the San Benito Republican campaigns to return to Congress, that question is gaining frequency — and importance. Voters should consider the question, and the circumstances surrounding it, as they make their choices this election season.
Flores’ likely opponent, U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen, calls Flores the George Santos of the RGV. Santos, a New York Republican, was ousted from Congress last month following two indictments on nearly two dozen alleged cases of fraud and a report by the House Ethics Committee that found multiple violations.
Flores has not been accused of anything so severe. However, even before the legal issues arose against Santos, he already had been found to have fabricated much of his personal and professional resume. Now Flores, who was elected to fill the vacant 34th Congressional District seat in June 2022 but lost to Gonzalez in the general election, is facing similar charges of misrepresenting her past and current life.
Flores has posted several images of food on her social media pages with captions suggesting the dishes were homemade, and other images with text suggesting they reflect her life on a ranch.
Many of those images, however, are not hers; they previously appeared on other social media pages and were reposted on her accounts without acknowledgement of the images’ sources. Some were taken from commercial sites, including ours, are copyrighted and were republished without the necessary attribution.
But they support the backstory she has promoted since she first ran for Congress, that of a child of the rancho, an immigrant who worked as a child with her family in Texas cotton fields and worked her way up to a seat at our nation’s Capitol.
From the outset parts of that story have brought challenges, including many from people who note that cotton has been planted, harvested and processed by machine since the 1930s.
Much of Flores’ known story is true. It’s a compelling success story and needs no embellishment. What’s more, our current political atmosphere, in which her support for — and from — former president Donald Trump likely will be a greater influence, both for and against her campaign, than any personal history she might project.
Her possible willingness to stretch the truth, however, should raise concern. One of the greatest complaints about elected officials, at all levels, is their willingness to play loose with the truth. Might a fabricated story seek to mask a darker past, as was the case with Santos? Can they be trusted to keep their campaign promises? With regard to the theft of images from other internet sites, could a willingness to ignore laws protecting intellectual property hint at a willingness to ignore other laws as well?
Misinformation and fabrication have sullied and complicated our nation’s politics, and are a growing concern. And rightly so — the people who enact our laws need to show that they understand and respect our laws.
Mayra Flores’ true story acquits her well, and her short time in Congress was free of scandal. She should be honest about herself — and voters should consider honesty when making their decisions at the ballot box.
