Rep. Mayra Flores, the first woman born in Mexico to serve in Congress, told fellow Republicans to stop blaming voters after the November 3 midterm elections and to address South Texas residents’ economic worries.
“Stop blaming voters. The American people don’t owe the Republican Party their loyalty. No political party is entitled to their vote,” she wrote on X.
Democrats secured majorities in both chambers, ending the united Republican control of Washington, D.C., and setting up the final two years of the Donald Trump presidency.
Flores, the Texas Republican who served in the district for half a year after her 2022 special-election victory, believes social issues alone won’t earn loyalty from voters with families facing stagnant salaries and a high cost of living.
“Social issues don’t pay the bills,” Flores wrote. “Americans are tired of working nonstop, including overtime, only to barely make ends meet. In South Texas, many families can’t even afford a trip to South Padre Island, even though it’s only an hour away.”
She urges party leaders to change their minds before the next presidential election.
“Learn from your mistakes, deliver for the American people, and we can win big in 2028. But if you continue to ignore important voices in our community, we will not win,” she wrote.
Moreover, she claims she helped shift South Texas in favor of the Republican Party.
“During my time, I helped shift South Texas 15 points toward the Republican Party. Clearly, you couldn’t have done it without our voices,” she wrote.
Flores’ victory in the special election held in June 2022 became the national face of the Republican Party’s efforts to win Hispanic voters. It foreshadowed Trump’s success in the Rio Grande Valley in 2024. She lost the seat months later to Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, 53% to 44%, after redistricting changed thedistrict’ss composition to Democratic. Flores also lost the 2024 rematch 51% to 49%.
After the Republicans redrew Texas’ congressional map in 2025 in their favor, Flores decided to run for her previous seat again this year. Trump endorsed Eric Flores, a former federal prosecutor unrelated to her. He defeated Mayra Flores in the Republican primary on March 3, winning 56.6% to her 23.7%, then lost to Gonzalez in the general election.
Flores closed her post by pointing out the drawbacks of endorsements.
“It’s easy to win a primary with endorsements, but the general election is a different story. It takes years to earn the respect and trust of the people. God help us,” she wrote.
Her message to party leaders: Republicans need to listen to Hispanic conservatives, prove themselves, and earn people’s trust to compete in 2028. A poll conducted by the University of Texas in February showed Democrats ahead on the generic congressional ballot among Texas Hispanic voters, 50% to 31%.
