DEVELOPING: For the first time in 152 years South Texas will be represented by a member of the Grand Old Party in Congress.
Republican Mayra Flores has flipped a U.S. House seat in deep blue south Texas in what is a likely indicator of the coming red tsunami that could hit the Democrat Party this fall during the midterm elections.
The Texas Tribune called the stunning victory “a major breakthrough for Republicans eager to blaze new inroads in the historically blue region.”
Flores campaigned hard on her story as the wife of a U.S. Border Patrol agent and as a Mexican immigrant whose parents brought her to the United States as a young child. She mostly ignored Sanchez but took a sharp tone against Washington, D.C., Democrats in general. In one of her TV ads, she said the Rio Grande Valley is “under attack” at the border and promised not to let the “compadrismo” — cronyism — “in Washington ruin our communities.”
Texas Tribune
Flores beat Democrat Dan Sanchez in the special election for Texas’ 34th Congressional District. The seat was previously held by Rep. Filemon Vela (D) who stepped down earlier this year to become a lobbyist as all signs pointed to a brutal upcoming midterm election season for Democrats.
RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel praised Flores.
“Congratulations to Mayra Flores, the next Congresswoman for TX-34! Mayra is leading the charge for Republicans who are working to flip South Texas red. She is a fierce conservative who will make the RGV proud, and we will continue working to reelect her in November.”
Flores is now “the first GOP candidate to represent that area of the Rio Grande Valley since 1870,” the Houston Chronicle reported, adding that she is now “the first congresswoman born in Mexico.”
RACE CALL: Mayra Flores (R) is projected to win tonight’s special election in south Texas, flipping an 84% Hispanic district to the GOP. The district voted Biden +13 in 2020. pic.twitter.com/TLcmQodIZt
— Election Wizard 🇺🇸 (@ElectionWiz) June 15, 2022
BREAKING: Republican candidate Mayra Flores flips seat and wins Special Election for Texas 34th Congressional District.
— Ben Kew 🐶 (@ben_kew) June 15, 2022
A huge gain for the GOP and a sign of a potentially devastating midterm blowout for the Democratic Party. pic.twitter.com/N4GAvWFhSk
UPDATE 10:27 p.m. ET:
— NKL ULTRA 1776. “2A is the Way” (@NeonKnightLight) June 15, 2022
It’s over: Republican Mayra Flores has made history and won the special election in Texas’s 34th congressional district, flipping this seat into GOP hands away from Democrats as Democrat Dan Sanchez loses substantially: pic.twitter.com/iQwsBMNdsW