Bobby Pulido

Texas's Rio Grande Valley, a heavily Hispanic region that backed Trump in 2024 after decades as a Democratic stronghold, is showing signs of swinging back toward Democrats in the 2026 midterms. Reporting from the area finds frustration with aggressive ICE enforcement — including arrests of longtime residents without criminal records — compounding concerns over the cost of living and housing. Voters interviewed describe disillusionment with both parties rather than renewed partisan loyalty, suggesting a persistently volatile swing bloc.

Key races, including Texas's 15th and 34th Congressional Districts, illustrate Republicans distancing themselves from Trump's immigration policies while Democrats highlight ICE overreach and affordability as central campaign themes.

Polling and interviews across Texas point to a significant erosion of Latino support for President Trump since his 2024 gains, driven by frustration over high prices, gas costs, and aggressive ICE enforcement that has rattled South Texas communities and economies. Strategists describe the shift as a rebuke of Republicans rather than genuine enthusiasm for Democrats, who still carry a damaged brand with many Latino voters. The trend could shape Texas's competitive U.S. Senate race between Ken Paxton and James Talarico, as well as newly redrawn majority-Hispanic congressional districts. Analysts expect Latino support for Democrats to partially rebound toward 2018 levels, but caution that voters remain persuadable and increasingly judge candidates individually rather than by party.

An ad from Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R-Texas) in her competitive reelection race against Democrat Bobby Pulido featured "Deputy Garcia" of Goliad County, who criticized Pulido as "anti-cop." Reporting identified the officer as Zachary Garcia, who was fired from the Wilson County Sheriff's Office in 2024 after an internal investigation found he sexually harassed a female dispatcher and a female supervisor. Records describe him tracking the dispatcher's phone location, repeatedly calling her, and waiting outside her home in uniform after she ended their relationship. Garcia later took the same role in Goliad County, whose sheriff defended him and criticized the ad's critics as partisan.

De La Cruz's campaign says it filmed the ad before the allegations became public and stands by its content, pointing instead to Pulido's past social media criticism of police and his association with a convicted sex offender. Pulido's campaign disputes those characterizations. The race is rated a toss-up, and the dispute adds a new flashpoint to an already contentious contest.