Democrat Bobby Pulido has defeated incumbent Republican Monica De La Cruz in a closely watched South Texas congressional district, flipping a seat that Democrats had targeted after the region moved towards Republicans in 2024.
De La Cruz, an ally of Donald Trump, was first elected in 2022 after taking a district that had long been a Democratic stronghold in the largely Hispanic Rio Grande Valley.
Mr Trump carried her district and two other Democratic-held seats in the region in 2024. Republicans subsequently redrew Texas’s congressional boundaries, leaving 75% of De La Cruz’s new district made up of unknown voters.
The result came as Mr Trump faced declining popularity among Latino voters amid a weak economy and hardline immigration policies. The newly redrawn district stretches from parts of Corpus Christi south to the border.
Democrats recruited Pulido, a Latin Grammy-winning Tejano singer, to contest the seat. His campaign drew national attention after he continued performing at quinceañeras while running for office.
In May, De La Cruz posted a video saying: “this isn’t about who you would want to perform at your niece’s quinceanera.” Pulido turned the comment into a campaign opportunity, saying in late September that he had performed at 75 quinceañeras while on the campaign trail.
