Latest news with #RioGrandeValley
E&E News
19 hours ago
- Politics
- E&E News
New Texas House map targets moderate Democrats
Texas Republicans unveiled a new congressional map on Wednesday that would provide their party with five new red-leaning districts, a plan that — if enacted — could provide a boost to the party as it tries to cling to control of the House. The redraw would significantly benefit Republicans by making districts held by Democratic Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez, who both represent heavily Latino areas of the Rio Grande Valley, redder. The plan would make some Democratic-controlled districts even bluer in an attempt to create GOP-leaning districts elsewhere. it would also put a number of Republican and Democratic incumbents in the same district. Advertisement The proposed map only sets up one primary matchup between Democratic Reps. Greg Casar and Lloyd Doggett, avoiding any messy GOP primary fights between incumbents.
Associated Press
2 days ago
- Politics
- Associated Press
Texas Republicans propose new US House map with more winnable GOP seats
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Republicans proposed a new U.S. House map Wednesday with more winnable GOP seats as Democrat-led states weigh what they can do to counter the effort. Republicans currently hold 25 of the state's 38 seats, and the new map ups the total they could win to 30. All of those new 30 seats were won by Trump in November by at least 10 percentage points, leading to conservative optimism they can hold them even in what's likely to be a tough midterm environment for the party. The new seats come from making two Rio Grande Valley seats that have been narrowly won by Democrats recently slightly more Republican, collapsing two seats held by Democrats Lloyd Doggett and Greg Casar in the Austin and San Antonio area into a single liberal district and turning two Democratic-held seats in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area into GOP-majority ones.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Promise of ‘a little rebate' suddenly becomes Trump's latest gimmick to distract Americans from the Epstein fallout
In the months after the 2024 presidential election — and understanding what happened with Latino voters and why they shifted to Donald Trump — I called a Democratic operative in Webb County, right in the heart of the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. She told told me that when asking why one voter would back the once and future president, put simply, the voter told them in Spanish, 'I voted for Trump because he's going to give me money.' Famously, at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, Trump signed an economic rescue package that included a $1,200 check. Moreover, Trump sent letters telling people he was the person responsible for it. For many working-class families, the stimulus checks were a lifeline and Trump's approval rating slightly ticked up after sending out the checks, even as he would proceed to make careless mistakes that caused unnecessary deaths in the midst of the pandemic. That conversation came to mind when on Friday, Trump suddenly floated the idea of sending out 'a little rebate' to Americans. 'We're thinking about a little rebate, but the big thing we want to do is pay down debt, but we're thinking about a rebate,' he told a reporter before boarding Marine One on his way to a five-day trip to Scotland. 'We're thinking about a rebate because we have so much money coming in from tariffs, that a little rebate for people of a certain income level might be very nice.' Unsurprisingly, Trump's comments come when voters are souring on the president. On Friday, as he departed, he vehemently denied that he visited the late pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein's island. During that same gaggle, he said that he could pardon Epstein's convicted accomplice and occasional girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell. Fewer than 30 percent of independents approve of him, according to a new Gallup poll and he has an overall approval rating of 37 percent. His approval among men, a central part of his 2024 victory, now sits below 50 percent. And no matter how much he tries to deflect, blame the Democrats for 'the Jeffrey Epstein SCAM,' he has been unable to escape the stench of it. Trump has denied any knowledge of Epstein's wrongdoing and crimes, whihc came to light after he had a falling out with the financier and ended their friendship. This week, House Speaker Mike Johnson had to dismiss the chamber a day early for the summer recess to prevent enough MAGA Republicans from teaming up with the Democrats to sign a discharge petition to force a vote to release the Epstein files. Even some of Trump's most devoted supporters like Reps. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania and Nancy Mace of South Carolina joined with Democrats in a subcommittee to subpoena the Department of Justice to hand over documents related to Epstein. In the Senate, Democrats smell blood in the water, as Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Ruben Gallego of Arizona attempted to force the release of files related to Epstein. Both men obviously see themselves as potential Oval Office occupants and see this as an opportunity to gain points with the base and the American public. Manosphere podcasters like Theo Von and Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh who played a key role with non-college educated sports-loving dudes breaking for Trump are turning on him. But this will likely not happen for a number of reasons. For one, the stimulus checks in 2020 came during a once-in-a-century pandemic that required people to stay home and therefore lose their jobs. The checks made sure people had enough to meet their basic needs while keeping demand steady enough. Pumping money into the economy now when unemployment is relatively low — and Trump frequently touts how 'hot' the country is right now — would do nothing but overheat the economy, drive up demand and cause inflation to spike, the very formula that killed killed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris' White House runs and allowed Trump to return to Washington. This is to say nothing of his desite for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates, which could drive up inflation and his 'reciprocal tariffs.' None of that matters though, Trump is trying to rekindle the same tricks that helped him in the past. It's the same rationale for Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard's saying that Barack Obama staged a 'coup' and his rage against Joe Biden's autopen. Trump is in a position of his own creation and trying to dig himself out with the old tricks. But this time it might not work. Even now, some people might take his stimulus checks and then still not like him. After all, that happened in 2020.
The Independent
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Promise of ‘a little rebate' suddenly becomes Trump's latest gimmick to distract Americans from the Epstein fallout
In the months after the 2024 presidential election — and understanding what happened with Latino voters and why they shifted to Donald Trump — I called a Democratic operative in Webb County, right in the heart of the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. She told told me that when asking why one voter would back the once and future president, put simply, the voter told them in Spanish, 'I voted for Trump because he's going to give me money.' Famously, at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, Trump signed an economic rescue package that included a $1,200 check. Moreover, Trump sent letters telling people he was the person responsible for it. For many working-class families, the stimulus checks were a lifeline and Trump's approval rating slightly ticked up after sending out the checks, even as he would proceed to make careless mistakes that caused unnecessary deaths in the midst of the pandemic. That conversation came to mind when on Friday, Trump suddenly floated the idea of sending out 'a little rebate' to Americans. 'We're thinking about a little rebate, but the big thing we want to do is pay down debt, but we're thinking about a rebate,' he told a reporter before boarding Marine One on his way to a five-day trip to Scotland. 'We're thinking about a rebate because we have so much money coming in from tariffs, that a little rebate for people of a certain income level might be very nice.' Unsurprisingly, Trump's comments come when voters are souring on the president. On Friday, as he departed, he vehemently denied that he visited the late pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein's island. During that same gaggle, he said that he could pardon Epstein's enabler and occasional girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell. Fewer than 30 percent of independents approve of him, according to a new Gallup poll and he has an overall approval rating of 37 percent. His approval among men, a central part of his 2024 victory, now sits below 50 percent. And no matter how much he tries to deflect, blame the Democrats for ' the Jeffrey Epstein SCAM,' he has been unable to escape the stench of it. This week, House Speaker Mike Johnson had to dismiss the chamber a day early for the summer recess to prevent enough MAGA Republicans from teaming up with the Democrats to sign a discharge petition to force a vote to release the Epstein files. Even some of Trump's most devoted supporters like Reps. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania and Nancy Mace of South Carolina joined with Democrats in a subcommittee to subpoena the Department of Justice to hand over documents related to Epstein. In the Senate, Democrats smell blood in the water, as Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Ruben Gallego of Arizona attempted to force the release of files related to Epstein. Both men obviously see themselves as potential Oval Office occupants and see this as an opportunity to gain points with the base and the American public. Manosphere podcasters like Theo Von and Andrew Schulz's Flagrant with Akaash Singh who played a key role with non-college educated sports-loving dudes breaking for Trump are turning on Trump. But this will likely not happen for a number of reasons. For one, the stimulus checks in 2020 came during a once-in-a-century pandemic that required people to stay home and therefore lose their jobs. The checks made sure people had enough to meet their basic needs while keeping demand steady enough. Pumping money into the economy now when unemployment is relatively low — and Trump frequently touts how 'hot' the country is right now — would do nothing but overheat the economy, drive up demand and cause inflation to spike, the very formula that killed killed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris' White House runs and allowed Trump to return to Washington. This is to say nothing of his desite for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates, which could drive up inflation and his 'reciprocal tariffs.' None of that matters though, Trump is trying to rekindle the same tricks that helped him in the past. It's the same rationale for Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard's saying that Barack Obama staged a 'coup' and his rage against Joe Biden's autopen. Trump is in a position of his own creation and trying to dig himself out with the old tricks. But this time it might not work. Even now, some people might take his stimulus checks and then still not like him. After all, that happened in 2020.
Yahoo
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
GOP veteran to challenge Democrat Vicente Gonzalez in South Texas congressional district
Eric Flores, a Republican Army veteran and lawyer from Mission, announced Monday he is running for Texas' 34th Congressional District, targeting Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez of McAllen in a swing seat carried by President Donald Trump last year. Gonzalez won the district, situated on the Gulf Coast and stretching from Brownsville toward Corpus Christi, by nearly 3 percentage points — the closest margin of Texas' 38 congressional districts last November. It is one of just 13 House districts nationwide that elected a Democrat while being carried by Trump, making Gonzalez a top target for Republicans as they look to maintain their slim House majority in 2026. The prospect of Flores' candidacy has excited Republicans in Texas and Washington, due in part to his military and law enforcement credentials. Flores is a Rio Grande Valley native and Spanish speaker in a district that is more than 90% Hispanic. He has held numerous public positions in South Texas, serving as a city attorney and municipal judge in Alton before a stint as assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of Texas' criminal division in McAllen from 2021 to the beginning of this year. There, he prosecuted transnational human smuggling along the border — an issue he hopes to raise in the election. 'I was prosecuting at a time when there were thousands and thousands of undocumented aliens coming into the U.S.,' Flores said in an interview. 'They're here unlawfully, and [we were] just, quite frankly, letting them in. It's policies like that that I want to go to D.C. and change.' But Flores is not as hardline as some members of his party. He said he wants to push for immigration policy that makes sense for a region that has struggled with labor shortages, especially as the Trump administration's immigration raids targeting undocumented workers have ramped up. 'Something that I'm going to be championing in D.C. is to ensure — especially [for] our farmers, for our boat manufacturers, for our steel mills that we have down here — that they have the workers that they need, having an efficient legal process for that,' he said. Though the district has shifted rightward in recent elections, Republicans have been unable to replicate their success down the ballot. Democratic Senate nominee Colin Allred won the district by 6 percentage points in 2024, and Gonzalez, a moderate who has represented South Texas since 2017, has proven difficult to beat. He defeated Republican Mayra Flores in 2022 and in 2024 by single-digit margins. Mayra Flores, who is not related to Eric Flores, has since announced a 2026 run in the nearby district of Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo. The boundaries of the 34th Congressional District, and others in the Rio Grande Valley, could be changed as Texas Republicans move to redraw the state's political lines in a special session that began Monday. South Texas — where Republicans have rapidly improved their margins with Hispanic voters — is a key area the GOP is targeting to flip seats, and the 34th District could be redrawn to include more Republican voters and become a friendlier seat for whoever captures the GOP nomination. In a statement to The Texas Tribune, Gonzalez suggested that his old opponent could still end up running in his district — and pledged to beat either candidate. 'If Mayra comes back, she will be mopping the floor with him and every other Republican primary candidate,' Gonzalez said. 'So [Eric] needs to get in line before he gets to the general election. If our district doesn't move too much, we'll kick his or anyone else's ass, just as we have the 19 candidates before.' But if Republicans push the 34th District into Republican areas near Corpus Christi, Gonzalez could end up running in a district tilted more in favor of the GOP — a prospect he acknowledged. 'The only way Republicans can beat me is by cheating and changing the district maps,' he lives in the neighboring 15th Congressional District, currently represented by Republican Rep. Monica De La Cruz of Edinburg. Members of Congress do not need to live in the district they represent, though doing so opens them up to criticism from opponents. This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: GOP veteran to challenge Democrat Vicente Gonzalez for Congress
