Republican Mayra Flores, who flipped a South Texas congressional district by winning a special election in June 2022 — only to lose a modified seat less than five months later — is running again.
Flores will take on Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, who beat her by 8.5 percentage points in November after the district lines were redrawn.
“We are taking back our seat,” Flores said Tuesday on Fox & Friends. “This is not my fight, it’s our fight.”
Flores made history as the first woman born in Mexico to be elected to Congress. In her announcement, she highlighted several themes, including security at the Mexican border. Flores’ husband is a Border Patrol agent.
The heavily Hispanic 34th District is one of the National Republican Congressional Committee’s top battlegrounds, but the district became more Democratic after redistricting last year. Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates the race as Likely Democratic.
The NRCC had been working to convince Flores to enter the race. “Vicente Gonzalez, call your office – #TX34 is in play,” Jack Pandol, the NRCC’s communications director, tweeted after Flores made her announcement.
Democrats said the deeply conservative Flores is not a good fit for the district, which President Joe Biden would have won by more than 15 percentage points under the current boundaries.
“Mayra Flores is a conspiracy theory-promoting extremist who lost #TX34 to Rep. Gonzalez by 8+ points in what was supposed to be a ‘wave year’ for House Republicans, so LOL,” tweeted Courtney Rice, communications director for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
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