Nine candidates are running in the Republican primary election for Texas’ 15th Congressional District on March 1, 2022. Incumbent Vicente Gonzalez Jr. (D) is running for re-election to Congress in Texas’ 34th Congressional District. The candidates running in the primary are: Jose Aizar Cavazos, Sara Canady, Vangela Churchill, Monica De La Cruz Hernandez, Mauro Garza, Angela Juarez, Ryan Krause, John Lerma, and Steve Schmuker Jr. De La Cruz Hernandez, Garza, and Krause have received the most media attention.
If no candidate receives a majority of the vote, the top two voter-getters will compete in a runoff election on May 24.
De La Cruz Hernandez is an insurance agent from Edinburg. She was the 2020 Republican nominee in the district and lost to Gonzalez 50.5% to 47.6%. De La Cruz Hernandez was selected as a member of the National Republican Congressional Committee’s Young Guns program this cycle, which highlights candidates who meet benchmarks in fundraising, messaging, and communications. De La Cruz Hernandez’s key campaign issues include immigration policy, investments in oil and natural gas, and school choice. As of January 2022, 18 Republican members of Congress—including U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)—had endorsed De La Cruz Hernandez.
