First female Mexico-born rep targets indictment-plagued Democrat in House GOP comeback bid

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FIRST ON FOX: The first Mexico-born female member of Congress is launching her comeback bid on Tuesday, setting her sights on a Democrat who Republicans view as one of the most vulnerable House incumbents of 2026.

"Unfortunately, we don't have that many voices in the Spanish-speaking community — in Telemundo, in television — talking to the Spanish-speaking community about the amazing work President Trump is doing, and his administration," former Rep. Mayra Flores, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital in an interview prior to her announcement.

"And that's something that I feel I'm obligated to do, because there's a lot of misinformation being spread from the left, and they're trying to instill fear and hate in the Hispanic community."

Flores served in Congress for roughly six months, from late June 2022 until early January 2023, having flipped Texas’ 34th Congressional District from blue to red after winning a special election to replace ex-Rep. Filemon Vela Jr., D-Texas.

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Former Rep. Mayra Flores is setting her sights on Texas' 28th Congressional District, which is represented by Rep. Henry Cuellar. (Getty Images)

She lost re-election to Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, twice, though their rematch saw Flores come within less than 3% of Gonzalez’s victory.

Flores’ 2026 bid is aimed at challenging a different Democrat, however. The former GOP lawmaker told Fox News Digital that she intends to run in Texas’ Laredo-anchored 28th Congressional District, which is currently represented by Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas.

Cuellar is a moderate known to break from his own party on issues like border security, crime and abortion. 

He’s served in Congress since 2005, with victories spanning from a few thousand votes to margins as high as 30%.

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Cuellar most recently won last November by less than 6% – or roughly 13,000 votes – amid a federal indictment accusing him of an array of corruption charges.

"It’s not about what Mayra Flores wants. It's what this country needs me to do. And this country needs me to run in Texas 28 and win this seat," Flores said. "This is a seat that can be flipped in 2026. Right now we need a much bigger majority. It makes it very difficult for President Trump to get anything across with such a small majority."

Flores said she was deeply familiar with the district and has familial ties to it.

Former Rep. Mayra Flores and Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (ALLISON DINNER/AFP | Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images)

In addition to the seat being a viable opportunity for the GOP, she pointed to the criminal indictment as an argument for taking on Cuellar, and she noted he had been in office since she was a 1-year-old, having first served in the Texas State House in 1986.

"At the end of the day, I don't care what party he is, whether you're a Republican or you're a Democrat," Flores said. "Being a member, it's … a position where you can help so many people, and you are able to represent an entire district. And yet he threw it all away. And no amount of money is worth you doing that to your country." 

Cuellar denied any wrongdoing on his or his wife's part in a statement when the indictment was announced.

"I want to be clear that both my wife and I are innocent of these allegations. Everything I have done in Congress has been to serve the people of South Texas," Cuellar said in May 2024.

"Before I took any action, I proactively sought legal advice from the House Ethics Committee, who gave me more than one written opinion, along with an additional opinion from a national law firm," he said. "The actions I took in Congress were consistent with the actions of many of my colleagues and in the interest of the American people. Furthermore, we requested a meeting with the Washington D.C. prosecutors to explain the facts, and they refused to discuss the case with us or to hear our side."

Former Rep. Mayra Flores served from June 2022 until early January 2023. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Flores signaled she intended to focus heavily on the issues of agriculture and the economy when asked what she wanted to make another stint in Congress look like.

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"At the end of the day, you know, money's important. Without money, you can't have a shelter, you can't have a car, you can't provide for your children. So the economy is a top priority for me," Flores said. "And of course, agriculture is a passion of mine. I was a farmworker. My parents were migrant workers. We traveled a lot. I believe our farmworkers need to be prioritized."

She compared her push on agriculture to the Republican stance on U.S. energy independence.

"We talk about being independent, right, on oil and gas, which I agree, 100%. But we need to be food-independent as well," Flores said.