In South Texas, the escalation of political disputes is perceived by the series of attack messages directed at political opponents mainly from the Republican wing to the Democrats. The context of proximity of the midterm elections in November puts three seats in Congress in great contention.

The volume and content of the ads are not entirely surprising, but it is a new experience for South Texas, a historically Democratic stronghold. The attack tactic may be a reminder of how Republicans want to gain new ground in the region after President Joe Biden underperformed in 2020.

According to the Texas Tribune “Since Labor Day, outside GOP groups have blasted the Democratic nominees on multiple fronts, criticizing them all as weak on border issues and then zeroing in on candidate-specific vulnerabilities. Democratic groups are countering in two of the races, though for now, it is Republicans who appear to be in a more offensive posture”.

“The attack ads are flying in the 15th, 28th and 34th congressional districts, which include the Harlingen, Corpus Christi, Laredo and San Antonio media markets. In the 15th District, Republican Monica De La Cruz and Democrat Michelle Vallejo are competing for an open seat. The current incumbent in the 15th District — Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen — is running for reelection in the neighboring 34th District due to redistricting. Gonzalez’s opponent is U.S. Rep. Mayra Flores, R-Los Indios, who won a June special election for the 34th. And in the 28th District, Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, faces a GOP challenger in Cassy Garcia”.

The 15th District is considered by analysts to be most likely to have an elected Republican Party representative. In this perspective, two Republican groups, the National Republican Congressional Committee and the Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF), have already displayed at least four television ads against Michelle Vallejo (mostly personal attacks), while her Democratic colleagues had not yet launched of no commercial criticizing her rival, Monica De La Cruz, until then.

According to the Texas Tribune, “In the 28th District, Republicans are up against one of the most moderate House Democrats in Cuellar, who makes for a harder ideological contrast. Instead, they have prioritized attacks that say he has become too cozy in Washington, with one CLF commercial detailing his “luxury D.C. condo.” Others accuse him of using his position as a congressman to enrich his family”.

Another ad run by Republicans states that Vicente Gonzalez “made a living working for people accused of human smuggling” and stated that he had made a fortune because he “profited from the tragedy”. The Democrats, on the other hand, “have attacked Flores for the voting record of her allies in Congress (she has been in office for only about three months and has not been able to build a substantive legislative record yet). Nicknaming her as ‘interesada’, a House Majority PAC ad insinuated she is self-interested and tied her to Republicans who advocated privatizing Social Security and corporate tax cuts”, according to the same publication.

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus’ political arm is also on the air against Flores, highlighting her vote against the bipartisan gun bill that she opposed after the Uvalde shooting.

“The [Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee] is committed to winning all three South Texas races, and we’re currently on air in the Rio Grande Valley as part of that effort”, DCCC spokesperson Monica Robinson said in a statement.