GOP Rep Monica De La Cruz projected to win re-election in Texas, fending off Democrat Michelle Vallejo
De La Cruz and Vallejo ran against each other in the 2022 midterm elections, with De La Cruz defeating Vallejo to become the first Republican to represent the traditionally deep-blue district since 1901.
In 2020, De La Cruz ran against then-incumbent Democrat Rep. Vicente Gonzalez Jr. but was defeated.
The seat was redrawn following the 2020 census and includes a region of South Texas along the U.S.-Mexico border in the Rio Grande Valley.
Both De La Cruz and Vallejo are the children of Mexican immigrants.
In 2022, Vallejo picked up the support of top liberal politicians like Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and she is a strong supporter of abortion rights and Medicare for all.
The district has a majority-Hispanic electorate.
In the 118th Congress, De La Cruz served on the House Agriculture Committee, the House Committee on Financial Services and is a member of a number of caucuses, including the Bipartisan Women's Caucus, of which she is the vice chair.
