Republicans are hoping to win the Texas Special Elections on Tuesday which might foreshadow party victories in the fall.
In the Hispanic-majority 34th District on the US-Mexico border, Mayra Flores, a Mexican-born Republican activist and healthcare professional, opposes Democrat Dan Sanchez, a former county commissioner.
Given President Joe Biden‘s low approval rating and the long-standing trend of the White House’s party performing badly in midterm elections, a Flores victory in the Texas Special Elections would narrow the Democratic benefit in the House. It would also give the GOP a morale boost ahead of the Nov 8 general election, which is likely to favor Republicans.
Texas Special Elections Will Not See Rep. Vicente Gonzalez
In the Texas Special Elections, a four-candidate ballot, Flores would need a majority of the vote to win outright against Sanchez, another Democrat, and one other Republican. If a runoff election is required, it will most likely be held in August. The winner will serve out the remainder of Filemon Vela’s (D) term, which ended in March. Mayra Flores, a Republican, is running for a seat in the usually Democratic Rio Grande Valley in a special election in Texas.
The special election is a barometer of Republican attempts in Texas’ predominantly Democratic Rio Grande Valley to boost their 2020 election wins among Hispanic voters. The 34th Congressional District in Texas, which encompasses all of Cameron County in and around Brownsville and Harlingen, has an 84 percent Hispanic population, which is the second-highest among the 435 congressional districts. In the 2020 election, Biden narrowly beat Donald Trump in the 34th district by 4 percentage points, a significant improvement from Trump’s 22-point deficit in the 2016 election.
Flores has dominated fundraising since announcing his candidacy for Congress in February 2021. According to Federal Election Commission records, $752,000 of the $1.1 million she raised until May 25 came in the last 55 days of the period ending. Sanchez raised $146,000 until May 25 after launching his campaign in April following Vela’s departure.
