But because the Democrats' majority in the House is slim, it was decided best not to put his seat at risk in a special election. In his January interview with the USA TODAY Network, Vela did acknowledge having had some interest in serving in Biden's Cabinet. When he announced his decision to step aside, Vela made no mention of the coming redistricting, nor did he give any clue about his own political future. Abbott: Migrant children at border are vulnerable to sex traffickersĮven in majority Hispanic districts, Angle said the Republican coalition is a solid bloc of nearly all Anglo voters and enough conservative Hispanic voters to put the GOP candidate over the line. "The redistricting 'big lie' is the notion of a Hispanic Republican district. "What they are doing is setting the state for a discriminatory map," Angle said. Longtime Texas Democratic operative Matt Angle said such an effort would be a deliberate attempt to dilute the votes of South Texas Hispanics, who tend to be conservative on many social issues but more progressive on bread-and-butter matters like access to health coverage. Since Vela was re-elected last year with about 54% of the vote and Gonzalez's share was just over 50%, it's not difficult to see that at least one of the two districts could be drawn with a GOP majority. The next congressional elections will take place after the districts are redrawn by the Republicans who control the state Legislature to reflect changes learned from the 2020 census data. “It’s imperative we get this situation under control or we are looking at another crisis on our hands.” “We need to address this migrant issue head-on with the input of stakeholders that know the border region best,” Gonzalez said. On Monday, Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar sent news outlets photos of young migrants inside crowded detention centers with little or no social distancing to help limit the COVID-19 spread.Ĭongressman Vicente Gonzalez, a Democrat whose district lies between those of Vela and Cuellar, has also called on Biden to take the escalating number of migrant crossings and apprehensions more seriously. Several GOP state senators visited South Texas detention facilities on Monday and decried the crowded conditions.Īnd Republicans are not the only ones sounding the alarm about Biden's approach to immigration during his still-young administration. Greg Abbott, almost daily, has accused the new administration of being inept and even "enticing" minors to put themselves at risk of being trafficked because of what he calls lax immigration enforcement. The influx of migrants crossing into Texas without authorization, and the Biden administration's decision to allow unaccompanied minors to remain at least temporarily has surfaced as an ongoing talking point for Republicans both in the state and around the nation. I have to think that this Biden border crisis is playing terribly down there, even among people who may not think of themselves as, quote-unquote, Republicans." "And I think there's an opportunity for that. "The challenge for Republicans is to consolidate those gains and hold them in the next election," he said. More: How Vela might use his post under Biden to help struggling Texas Democrats And that helped boost down-ballot GOP candidates, even if they did not win, Mackowiack added. Matt Mackowiak, a veteran Texas Republican political operative, noted that Trump ran surprisingly strong in several border counties as he carried Texas in 2020. "So Republicans will be looking to strengthen their position in the Valley to see if they can capture (one or more) congressional seats." "The Republican Party has clearly targeted the Rio Grande Valley following this last election," Barrow said. His victory margins had grown smaller with each election, and so had those of his fellow Democrats in neighboring congressional districts anchored along the Rio Grande.Īnd when Vela issued his surprise announcement Monday that he will not run again in 2022, both Republicans and some neutral observers saw it as recognition that the Democrats' solid lock on South Texas could be loosening.Ĭlyde Barrow, chairman of the political science department at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, said it's no secret that Republicans have begun paying increased attention to the South Texas in recent cycles. House representing a district from stretching from his hometown of Brownsville to Austin and was looking ahead to his volunteer role as a new vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee.īut there was more than a little truth to Vela's off-the-cuff comment about his own political vulnerability. Less than three weeks earlier, he was sworn to his fifth term in the U.S. "I might have got beat," Vela said with a chuckle during an interview Jan.
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