Republicans seek midterm momentum in Texas special election

“The Vela family had done so much for me and my career and opening the path for me that it was almost like I had to do it as a form of a thank you to them,” Sanchez said.
While in high school, Sanchez was a juror on a mock trial presided over by Vela’s father at the federal courthouse in Brownsville (which now bears Vela Sr.’s name). That experience propelled his legal and political career, he said.

With two other candidates on the ballot — Republican Juana “Janie” Cantu-Cabrera and Democrat Rene Coronado — and voter turnout expected to be low, the election could also be forced into a runoff sometime in August if no candidate wins a majority of the vote. 

Sanchez and Flores are the only candidates who reported fundraising to the Federal Election Commission through May 25. Sanchez’s $146,000 is a pittance compared to the $1.1 million raised by Flores, which includes $75,000 from House Republicans’ campaign committees and leadership PACs. Flores has poured much of that money into broadcast advertising, texts to voters, campaign materials and travel across the region to meet with donors and voters — all the trappings of a serious campaign. On top of her own fundraising, she received $353,000 in outside support from three powerful national Republican PACs, about two-thirds of which came from the Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC allied with the House GOP leadership. Its Democratic counterpart, House Majority PAC, has spent $115,000 to oppose Flores, disclosures through Thursday showed. 

Colin Strother, a South Texas-based Democratic strategist, said he was worried Democrats are taking the region for granted. “The Republicans — they are faking it until they make it. They are pretending that South Texas will turn Red. Even a win in a semi-meaningless special election still supports that narrative and fuels that conversation, which is not good.”

Democrats have sought to portray Flores as an extremist who hyped the QAnon conspiracy theory that former President Donald Trump was leading a secret fight against a pedophilic ring in elite Washington, and that she spread misinformation about COVID-19.