- How typical is it for voters in this area
to see a Republican candidate blockwalking?
MAYRA FLORES: Yeah, this is new for them, it is.
It's probably the first time in a long time
that they have a Republican knocking their doors.
Prior to 2020, maybe people weren't as confident in saying
that they were Republican.
But now, people are confident and
they're not hiding it anymore.
- For decades, Republicans wrote off the Rio Grande Valley
as a Democratic stronghold, where
overwhelmingly Latino counties stretch along the Texas border
with Mexico.
But that changed in 2020 when former President Donald
Trump made serious gains here and stunned
the political world.
Now, Republicans are investing in South Texas candidates,
including many of Hispanic descent
from Congress to County judge.
MAYRA FLORES: This is what the Republican looks like.
It isn't just about, you know, for the rich or just white
people.
- Die hard fan right here.
MAYRA FLORES: You follow his page?
Oh my God, can I give a hug?
- Yes.
MAYRA FLORES: How old are you?
- 16, in March I'll be 17.
MAYRA FLORES: Wow, really.
- Yes, just one more year and I can vote.
MAYRA FLORES: This area has been voting
Democrat for over 100 years.
I feel we've been taken for granted,
we've been loyal to a party that has done absolutely nothing
for us.
We have families in Mexico that we are not visiting
anymore because we're afraid.
So we don't want what we're afraid to come here.
- Republican frontrunner and first time candidate Mayra
Flores is running in a four-way primary
in one of three top congressional
races in South Texas.
Both the 15th and the 34th districts are newly redrawn.
And sitting Congressman Vincente Gonzalez
has switched from the 15th, which became more favorable
to Republicans, to run in the 34th,
now more favorable to Democrats where
he will likely face Flores.
VINCENTE GONZALEZ: All the benefits
I've had in my lifetime were created
by the Democratic party.
And I think most people in my region feel the same.
- Monica De La Cruz is a second time
Republican candidate, running for the now
open seat in the 15th district.
In 2020, she came close to ousting Gonzalez,
the Democratic incumbent here.
MONICA DE LA CRUZ: Socialists are
ruining our border security, our values, and our economy.
- De La Cruz was endorsed by Trump
and has echoed some of his false claims about voter fraud.
But her central focus is immigration.
MONICA DE LA CRUZ: President Trump
cared about the border, cared about border patrol agents
and law enforcement agents.
So in the 2020 election, people got motivated,
were engaged, and worked to win this seat.
And we came within three points of doing so.
When I ran, people said, you're crazy,
this is a Democrat stronghold, you don't have a chance.
- Democrats in South Texas say the claims
that their party has forgotten Latino voters are fiction,
and that Latino voters were still
a key part of Biden's support in major Metropolitan
areas of Texas in 2020.
They argue that the party lost some Latino support
in the border counties because it largely
suspended in-person campaigning during the pandemic
and must do a better job of connecting with voters
on issues like the border and the future
of the oil and gas industry, which fuels many jobs here.
MICHELLE VALLEJO: Unfortunately, the previous administration
showed up to use our border wall as a photo op.
And it worked because it ended up on the TV.
Approaching the border and immigration conversation
in that way is divisive, and it takes
away from the actual conversation
we should be having.
- Democrats who have long had a diverse slate of candidates
in South Texas are confident they can reverse GOP momentum
here in 2002 now that they are back campaigning intensively
in these communities.
Both sides have long acknowledged that the Latino
vote is not a monolith.
The November election will test whether the GOP can maintain
the gains they made among Latino voters in key states,
when Trump is not on the ballot.
MAYRA FLORES: We are the forgotten,
and Bronzeville has been the forgotten.
I am not here to represent a political party,
I'm here to represent you.