Mayra Flores, a staunch and conservative Republican, had a short stay in Congress, in the House of Representatives, and she is committed to returning to Washington D.C. and Capitol Hill.
Ms. Flores, 37, seeks to regain the seat she held representing the Texas 34th congressional district, which is located in the southern part of Texas and encompasses a stretch of the Gulf Coast and points inland.
Born in Mexico to migrant workers, Ms. Flores and her family moved to the United States when she was six years old. She became a U.S. citizen when she was 14.
She is the first Mexican-born woman elected to serve in Congress.
The area of the 34th congressional district and surrounding region, which has a population largely Hispanic, has long been a stronghold of Democratic Party support, but that has started to change. Hispanic and Latino voters in Texas and on a national level have been moving to the Republican Party.
The Republican National Congressional Committee (RNCC) has shown a keen interest in the race for the 34th congressional district.
RNCC polling has Mayra Flores 10 points up over incumbent Democrat Vincente Gonzalez.
Mayra Flores Intends for a Conservative Republican to Again Hold the 34th Congressional District Seat
Ms. Flores was elected to represent the 34th congressional district in a special election held on June 14, 2022, to fill the remaining term of Filemón Vela Jr, a Democrat. Mr. Vela resigned the seat in mid-term, in March 2022, to take a job with a lobbying firm.In the general election, held in November 2022, for the full term, Vincente Gonzalez beat Ms. Flores by about 10,000 votes.
Mayra Flores is married to a U.S. Border Patrol agent with whom she has four children. A graduate of South Texas College, she has worked as a respiratory therapist.
Ms. Flores is a Donald Trump supporter. She is a fervent advocate for stronger border security. She is pro-life, pro religious freedom, pro school choice, and opposes same-sex marriage.
Appearing on Fox & Friends on Fox News on July 11, Ms. Flores announced her candidacy for the Texas 34th congressional seat but prefaced the announcement with a strident attack on the Biden administration’s border security policy and record and gave specific attention to Homeland Security chief Alejandro Mayorkas.
“House Republicans ran on impeaching Mayorkas, and that’s what the American people, I believe, want; so it’s time that we impeach Mayorkas,” said Ms. Flores. “He has done a horrible job at the border.”
Ms. Flores then addressed the humanitarian crisis she says has resulted as a consequence of a lack of law and order at the border.
“Thousands and thousands of children are coming in unaccompanied,’ she said. “Children with a little paper in their pocket, with a name and a phone number–so-called Uncle. And then the Biden administration sends these children more likely to a child trafficker. That is what’s happening right now. And that is how the Biden administration has lost track of 85,000 children.”
Texas National Guard troops watch over illegal immigrants in El Paso, Texas, on May 10, 2023. Andres Leighton/AP Photo
During the Fox News broadcast, the host acknowledged a movement of Latinos away from the Democratic Party, but she also referenced an Axios-Ipsos Latino poll that showed the GOP has a lot of work to do to win the Hispanic and Latino vote.
Indeed, the poll referenced reported that when Latinos were asked what party cares more about them, 32 percent said “neither,” 30 percent said Democrats, 11 percent said Republicans, 11 said the parties care “equally” about them, and 15 percent replied, “don’t know.”
After citing the poll, the host asked Mayra Flores, “So why should Latinos and Hispanics support you and other Republicans?”
“Our values align with the Republican Party,” said Ms. Flores. “I am pro-God, pro-life, pro-family. People say all the time, ‘Mayra, why are you conservative?’ I was born in Mexico. We were raised with strong conservative values—to always put God and family first. We’re all about hard work. That is who we are.”
Mayra Flores added: “So, I asked the Hispanic community—don’t allow the Democrat party to continue playing games with our lives. They do not want us to prosper. They want to keep us poor, to keep controlling us. That’s where they want us.”
