<mediadc-video-embed data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1654614209146,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"00000162-07c3-d172-a563-4feb224a0001","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1654614209146,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"00000162-07c3-d172-a563-4feb224a0001","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"rawHtml":"
var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ "div": "Brid_54614093", "obj": {"id":"27789","width":"16","height":"9","video":"1018769"} }); ","_id":"00000181-3eb1-df81-a381-7eb52d4b0000","_type":"2f5a8339-a89a-3738-9cd2-3ddf0c8da574"}”>Video EmbedDemocrats are pouring money into a special election for a Texas congressional seat as they attempt to avoid a high-profile loss ahead of this year’s midterm elections.
House Majority PAC, the primary political action committee of the House Democratic Caucus, has dumped more than $100,000 into airing a television ad accusing the leading Republican candidate in the race, Mayra Flores, of supporting the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. The investment is the first time national Democrats have thrown significant funds at the race.
Voters in Texas’s 34th Congressional District are set to go to the polls next Tuesday in a special election to pick a successor to former Rep. Filemon Vela (D-TX), who announced his resignation in March.
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The Spanish-language ad claims Flores represents “violence, terror, and conspiracy theories” and attempts to portray her as responsible for police injuries and deaths on Jan. 6.
Two Republicans and two Democrats are running in the special election. If no one receives more than 50% of the vote next week, the top two candidates will advance to a runoff. However, because of their heavy investment in the race, many Republicans are optimistic that Flores can win outright and avoid a runoff.
The 34th District is based in South Texas’s Rio Grande Valley, and the district’s population is overwhelmingly Latino. President Joe Biden carried the seat by 4 percentage points in 2020, and the district has been represented in Congress by a Democrat since it was created after the 2010 census.
Republicans are hoping to point to a win in this special election as further evidence of their gains with Latino voters. The GOP intends to use inroads with Latinos to target previously out-of-reach seats in states such as Texas and Nevada in the midterm elections.
The winner of the special election to replace Vela will only serve until January, and another contest will run in November under redrawn lines.
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Because of redistricting, the new 34th District strongly favors Democrats. Consequently, even if Flores wins the special election, she will be the underdog to win the seat for a full term.
Rep. Vicente Gonzalez is the Democratic nominee for the redrawn district in November. Gonzalez decided to run for the seat after Republican state lawmakers made his old seat, the 15th District, more Republican-leaning during redistricting.
