Bobby Pulido Flips Texas' 15th District, Unseating GOP Rep. Monica De La Cruz

Democrat Bobby Pulido, the Latin Grammy-winning Tejano singer, defeated Republican U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz on Tuesday, Nov. 3, flipping Texas’ 15th Congressional District in the Rio Grande Valley. The Associated Press called the race shortly after 11:30 p.m. ET, The Texas Tribune reported, and CBS News also projected Pulido the winner.

Status: AP called the race for Bobby Pulido (D). De La Cruz conceded. Results are unofficial until certified.

A big swing in South Texas

The win is a sharp reversal. Trump carried the district by 18 points just two years ago, according to the Tribune, which said Pulido held “an enormous lead” when the race was called amid a broader leftward shift in the Valley. Most analysts had rated the race a toss-up going into Election Day.

De La Cruz made history in 2022 as the first Republican elected to a full U.S. House term in the Rio Grande Valley and won again in 2024. Texas Republicans redrew the state’s congressional map last summer hoping to gain more seats in the region, the Tribune reported, though the district kept the same partisan lean. CBS News noted that the new lines left about 75% of De La Cruz’s district made up of voters unfamiliar with her. The district now runs from parts of Corpus Christi south to the border.

How Pulido ran

Pulido calls himself a “conservative Democrat.” He focused on high costs, health care and the economic and humanitarian impact of immigration enforcement raids in the region, the Tribune reported, and he distanced himself from his national party on border policy and culture-war issues. “I’m the Democrat that you used to vote for,” he said in an October interview.

His campaign became known for quinceañeras. After De La Cruz posted a video in May saying “this isn’t about who you would want to perform at your niece’s quinceanera,” Pulido turned the line into a campaign theme, CBS News reported. By late September, he said he had performed at 75 quinceañeras while campaigning.

“For over 30 years, you played my music at your weddings, your quinceañeras, and your carne asadas,” Pulido said in a statement Tuesday night, according to the Tribune. “Tonight, you trusted me with something even bigger than a song, you trusted me with your future.”

De La Cruz’s campaign and concession

De La Cruz emphasized Social Security and Medicare and was one of a handful of Republicans who voted with Democrats to extend enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies, the Tribune reported. She also rallied with Trump in Corpus Christi last week. Republicans spent millions on ads attacking Pulido over his past work with an accordionist who is a registered sex offender.

Pulido won Hidalgo County, where both candidates are from, and outperformed past Democrats in many rural counties. De La Cruz conceded and said she had called him. “Tonight, voters across our country have spoken, and we should listen,” she said.

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