Redistricting made the district more comfortable for Democrats in November, when Flores will also have to deal with a more established opponent in Gonzalez.įlores campaigned hard on her story as the wife of a Border Patrol agent and as a Mexican immigrant whose parents brought her to the United States as a young child. They argue a Flores win would be a pyrrhic victory given that the special election is being held under the previous, less competitive lines of the district, which President Joe Biden won by 4 percentage points. National Democrats have largely steered clear of the special election, deeming it too low-stakes. He’s not running in the special election. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen, who will attempt to switch districts due to redistricting, is the Democratic nominee for Vela’s seat this fall. The special election could go to a late-summer runoff given the presence of two other, lesser-known candidates on the ballot, Democrat Rene Coronado and Republican Juana “Janie” Cantu-Cabrera.įlores won the Republican primary to vie for the open seat in November. Whoever wins the special election race will hold it only until January.įlores outraised her toughest Democratic competition, Harlingen attorney Dan Sanchez, by 16 to 1 on the only major campaign finance report of the special election. Republicans are trying to flip the seat to give them an edge in the November race for Vela’s open seat. The main GOP candidate, Mayra Flores, and her allies have spent nearly $1 million on an aggressive TV ad campaign. The Brownsville Democrat had already announced he was not seeking reelection. Filemon Vela’s decision to resign in March to work for the lobbying firm Akin Gump. The special election in the 34th District was triggered by U.S. Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.įour candidates - two Democrats and two Republicans - are facing off Tuesday night in a special election for a congressional seat in South Texas. Filemon Vela" was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans - and engages with them - about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues. The White House announced earlier this month that Biden had chosen Vela's wife, Rose, an attorney and retired state judge, to be director of the White House Commission on White House Fellowships." Candidates face off in South Texas special election to replace Democratic U.S. In January, Biden named Vela one of four vice chairs of the Democratic National Committee. The party that does not hold the White House usually gains large numbers of House seats in midterm elections. In addition, history will be on the GOP's side. Trump still lost the county by double-digits but cut into that deficit while winning tens of thousands of new supporters in predominantly Mexican American communities. The district includes Cameron County, one of the largest counties on the Texas border, where Hillary Clinton beat Trump by a 2-to-1 margin in 2016. Vela's district is heavily Hispanic, voters who traditionally lean toward Democrats but with whom Trump made gains in his reelection defeat last November. For growing, Republican-controlled states such as Texas, that means the new lines will be drawn to help GOP candidates. The Republican drive will be aided by redistricting, which occurs once a decade as House seats are redistributed among the states to reflect the latest Census. Democrats' edge in the chamber is currently 219-211, with five vacancies.Ĭhild, 3, riding on a migrant bus from Texas to Chicago dies The GOP will need a net gain of only around five seats next year to take majority control. Only one House Republican has revealed plans to not run for reelection. The announcement by Vela, 58, makes him the second House Democrat to announce he won't seek reelection next year, when Republicans have high hopes of capturing control of the chamber. His retirement was first reported by Axios. "It is now time to allow other residents of South Texas the opportunity to fulfill this wonderful privilege for which I will be forever grateful," Vela said in a statement. The GOP-controlled Texas Legislature could also make the district more vulnerable for Democrats as it begins drawing new voting maps this year. But a big swing in voters along the heavily Latino border toward former President Donald Trump last year is giving Republicans new optimism in a region where they've long been dealt lopsided defeats. Since Vela's first victory in 2012, the five-term congressman has easily won reelection in what has been a solidly Democratic district. Filemon Vela of Texas announced Monday that he will not seek reelection to his congressional district on the southern border where Republicans are seeing new chances in 2022.
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