The November matchups for two high profile South Texas congressional seats seemed set long before the first couple of months of the new year came and went.
Michelle Vallejo will once again lead the Democratic ticket for Texas’ 15 congressional district, having been challenged by business owner and attorney John Villarreal Rigney, who received less than 26% of the vote as of 10:00 p.m. Tuesday.
“It’s clear that our campaign to lower costs for families, expand access to affordable and quality health care, protect Social Security and Medicare, and restore reproductive freedoms resonated with voters and led to our resounding victory,” Vallejo said after securing the Democratic nomination. “In her short time in Congress, Monica De La Cruz has sided with her party on every issue, even when it hurts South Texas families.”
This will be Vallejo’s second run for the District 15 seat after losing to U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz in 2022 by more than 10,000 votes.
De La Cruz’s win was the sole example of a “red wave” that the local GOP said would wash over South Texas that year, perpetuating a then-nationwide narrative that solidly Democratic seats would flip Republican in response to growing social conservatism in the area and the influx of migrants at the southern border.
De La Cruz secured the primary, too, with more than 88% of the vote as of 10 p.m. Tuesday. That set up her and Vallejo for a rematch this November.
The congresswoman was challenged by Vangella Churchill, an educator raised in the RGV, who campaigned on being a “real Republican.” Both had similar policies, including an intense focus on border security and inflation, blaming the ails of both on the Biden administration and Washington at large. Vallejo is running a similar campaign as she did in 2022, with a particular focus on healthcare, abortion access and social security, all things that she says De La Cruz has made harder for people in South Texas to access.
For this election, Vallejo now has the backing of the national Democratic party. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee added Vallejo to its “Red to Blue” program’s inaugural class, meant to support candidates who are running against Republican incumbents.
The party sidestepped supporting Vallejo in 2022 to focus on Congressman Vicente Gonzalez’s campaign against Republican Mayra Flores and Congressman Henry Cuellar’s campaign against Republican Cassy Garcia, according to the Texas Tribune. Gonzalez, who is running for re-election to Texas’ 34th district this year, was uncontested in the primary. He will have a second rematch with Flores, who had three other challengers in the district she last held in 2022 after winning a special election triggered by Congressman Filemon Vela resigning before the end of his term.
Flores held the seat for five months before losing to Gonzalez in the general election that same year. She announced her run for Congress again this past winter after national Republicans said the seat was on their radar and a poll showed her tying with Gonzalez. She has collected multiple controversies since.
Flores, who has been endorsed by former president Donald Trump, has turned her campaign into a microcosm of the national GOP’s focuses: harsher border security measures, an end to “indoctrination” in schools — a conspiratorial movement meant todisrupt and ultimately gut public education — and a host of other conservative culture war issues.
“Today’s overwhelming victory clearly shows that we have the support, momentum, and message to defeat Vicente Gonzalez and bring home a resounding victory in November,” Flores said on X after securing the primary.
Gonzalez, who is running on a politically moderate platform, said he hoped Flores would win the primary because she would be easier to defeat than other candidates.
In the Rio Grande Valley, Gonzalez’s support for Israel despite the tens of thousands of Palestinians killed by the IDF and the millions more displaced and starving since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack has pushed progressives and leftists away from the Democratic candidate. Vallejo, who was interrupted by protestors at a candidate forum in February for accepting campaign money from an Israeli group, has also experienced backlash from some residents for supporting Israel.
De La Cruz, who has been staunchly against activism advocating for Palestinians, has had her office defaced and her office protested for her legislative support of Israel, which Gonzalez also signed.
