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Latino voters helped elect Republicans two years ago. A congressional race in south Texas is a test of whether that support holds. Republican Representative Monica De La Cruz is trying for a third term. Her challenger is Democrat Bobby Pulido, a singer, making his first run for office. Texas Public Radio's David Martin Davies takes us to the state's 15th District.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
DAVID MARTIN DAVIES, BYLINE: Friday night at an Alice, Texas, block party, Pulido takes to the stage - not to deliver a campaign speech, but to sing.
BOBBY PULIDO: (Singing in Spanish).
DAVIES: Pulido is a Latin Grammy winner who is well known for his music. This swing district stretches about 300 miles across south Texas. Hispanics make up about 80% of the population. Pulido says although he's lived the life of a Tejano musician, he's always had an interest in politics.
PULIDO: Before there was music, there was also Bobby, the studious student. I actually studied political science at St. Mary's University in San Antonio. You know, I wanted to be a lawyer.
DAVIES: Pulido said he put his political ambitions on hold when he was offered a record deal, but that changed after De La Cruz won the district in 2022.
PULIDO: I'm one of her constituents, and I did not like that. So either I was going to be somebody that was going to sit on the sidelines and complain or I was going to do something about it.
DAVIES: Pulido calls himself an old-school Democrat who is conservative on social issues but supports policies that help working families. Two years ago, President Trump won the district by about 18 percentage points, mainly due to support from Latino voters. But this year, those same voters are considering voting for Democrats like Pulido. During his performance, Pulido didn't talk politics. But in the crowd, volunteers gave away campaign T-shirts, buttons, caps and yard signs to the audience, including Enrique Gonzalez.
ENRIQUE GONZALEZ: His dad played at my wedding, so only way I would know Bobby. Well, I think he has a real good chance of winning, and I'm real happy that he'll do that. He's representing all of us.
DAVIES: Many other voters in the crowd say they are unhappy about the rising prices and mass deportations. On Saturday, the incumbent De La Cruz is campaigning in Cuero, an especially Republican part of the district. The town is having its annual Turkeyfest, including racing turkeys down the middle of town.
UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #1: We'd like to welcome Congresswoman De La Cruz. Are you right here?
UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #2: Ah, there she is.
DAVIES: She is a former insurance agent and has been a strong supporter of Trump in Congress. De La Cruz supports Trump's mass deportation, and she wants to lower taxes and prices.
MONICA DE LA CRUZ: People are talking about affordability. They know that under the previous administration, we had historic inflation. That inflation is going down. But let's be honest, there's still a lot of work to do.
DAVIES: De La Cruz said she's addressing affordability by working to lower taxes.
DE LA CRUZ: I brought home to my community no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security for all of those abuelitos out there that are depending on their Social Security check.
DAVIES: Mike Madrid is a Republican political strategist. He said south Texas Latino voters who voted for Trump and Republicans in 2024 are now turned off by Trump's policies, but that doesn't mean they're going to be Democrats.
MIKE MADRID: This is the least partisan group in America, the last real swing voter, and they're motivated overwhelmingly by economics.
DAVIES: Madrid said both parties don't understand Latino voters, and he doesn't expect that to change.
MADRID: We'll be stuck in this ping-pong game of Latinos being marginalized and invincible even though we're the largest ethnic majority in the country.
DAVIES: Early voting starts in Texas on October 19.
For NPR News, I'm David Martin Davies in San Antonio. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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