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After making historic inroads with Hispanic voters in the last several election cycles, the Republican Party is going all in on winning the Latino vote this midterm election. The party, which currently holds a razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives, is confident that Hispanic voters will help it retain and shape the future of its majority both this November and in the years to come.
Longtime South Texas Democratic Judge Tano Tijerina told Fox News Digital during an interview that he and Hispanics are ready to buck the Democrats and embrace a “new generation” of political leadership.
Alongside former assistant U.S. attorney Eric Flores and former California mayor Kevin Lincoln, Tijerina is one of three Hispanic Republicans running to unseat Democrats in Congress who have been endorsed by President Donald Trump. There are eight other Hispanic Republicans running in competitive, heavily Latino districts in border states, Texas, New Mexico and California.
If elected, these candidates will join an already influential group of Hispanics in Congress, including Reps. Maria Salazar, R-Fla., Monica De La Cruz, R-Texas, Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz., and Gabe Evans, R-Colo.
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From left to right: Judge Tano Tijerina, Eric Flores and Kevin Lincoln. (Courtesy of National Republican Congressional Committee)
Tijerina is running to unseat longtime Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar in a district along the Texas-Mexico border. He said that despite long being a Democratic stronghold, the Biden administration’s mismanagement of the border and prioritization of DEI “really opened up a lot of eyes of the Hispanics down here in South Texas.”
“Being a Democrat after so many years, I’m just sick and tired of seeing all the social issues that the Democrats are [promoting]. And I’m not the only one. That’s why Webb County, that’s why South Texas, voted for Trump plus 10 numbers.”
“We have always been conservative, everybody knows it,” he went on, adding, “Down here in South Texas, the only thing that we care about is good-paying jobs [and] making sure that we’re getting protected.”
Cuellar also counts himself as one of the last “blue dog” conservative Democrats in the House of Representatives. He was highly critical of the Biden administration’s handling of the border and immigration issues. Cuellar has said that it was this stance that led to him being indicted by the Biden Department of Justice on foreign bribery charges. He was later given an unconditional pardon by Trump, who also posited that the charges were politically motivated.
Though there was much speculation that Cuellar would switch parties after his pardon, he rebuffed those rumors, saying he would remain a blue dog Democrat. Tijerina said that it is just as well because the people of South Texas “deserve somebody that’s actually going to go fight for them and not fight for themselves.”
“[Cuellar] comes around and says, ‘I’m your money guy, I’m the one that brings the money.’ When in all reality, I, as a county judge, know that we’ve gone through commissioner’s court, we’re the ones with the ideas, we’re are the ones that ask for the federal funding, we’re the ones who do the cash match,” said Tijerina.
“Henry’s been for Henry all these years, and it’s very obvious,” he went on. “It’s time for a new generation.”
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Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, was accused of taking more than half a million dollars in bribes from an Azerbaijan-owned energy company and a Mexican bank. He was pardoned by President Donald Trump on the grounds that he was being targeted for political reasons. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
In response, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Spokesperson Madison Andrus told Fox News Digital that “during his time in office, Congressman Cuellar has brought billions of dollars back home to South Texas through his powerful position on the House Appropriations Committee.”
Andrus knocked Tijerina for “fighting for a controversial $10 million spending project in Webb County” to purchase property for a new tax office.
“Tano should focus on his own backyard and do his homework on how members bring money back to their districts,” she said.
A national Democratic strategist told Fox News Digital that Tijerina’s assertion that Cuellar has failed to bring money back to the district stems from a “misunderstanding” of how the House appropriations process works.
“Just based on how the House works, Tano will not be able to bring as much money to the district as Cuellar is,” said the strategist, adding, “It is exceedingly rare that a freshman member of Congress gets a seat on the Appropriations Committee. So, Tano would not be able to sit on it, that just wouldn’t happen. And so, that would necessarily lead to a significant decrease in the federal funding that Texas 28 would get.”
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Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina poses for a portrait in his office on February 20, 2025, in Laredo, Texas. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Tijerina, however, is not the only candidate forecasting that the Democrats’ hold on the Hispanic vote is nearing its end.
“For too long, Democrats took South Texas for granted, assuming our votes were virtually guaranteed, while they turned their backs on our values,” said Flores, an Army veteran running as a Republican in the Texas Rio Grande Valley.
Flores asserted that Democrats have “traded the needs of hardworking families for a radical agenda that has left our borders open and our economy in shambles.”
Lest one think this phenomenon is isolated to the Texas border, this sentiment was further echoed by Lincoln, a Marine veteran who is also running in California.
Lincoln told Fox News Digital that Hispanic families in the California Central Valley are “feeling the crushing pressures of the affordability crisis driven by Democrats from Sacramento to Washington who put political ideology ahead of kitchen table issues.”
“Generations of families like mine came to America in pursuit of the American Dream, and the Republican Party is earning their trust by working to restore the affordability and opportunity that allows working families to get ahead again,” said Lincoln.
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A woman holds a sign expressing Latino support for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at his campaign rally at the Orange County Fair and Event Center, April 28, 2016, in Costa Mesa, California. (DAVID MCNEW/AFP via Getty Images)
Despite this, the Democratic Party is also leaning into the affordability message and remains confident that Hispanic voters will stand by them.
“While Republicans are pushing policies that make everyday life unaffordable, Democrats are focused on lowering costs, creating good-paying jobs, and protecting health care for every American,” DCCC spokesperson Bridget Gonzalez told Fox News Digital.
“Latino voters see through the GOP’s empty, hypocritical rhetoric because they’re living with the consequences of Republican extremism every day,” said Gonzalez, adding, “Republicans can trot out all the talking points they want, but Latino families know who’s actually fighting for them — it’s the Democrats.”
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Meanwhile, National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Christian Martinez told Fox News Digital that “outstanding” candidates like Flores, Lincoln and Tijerina “reflect their communities, understand the challenges working families face, and are stepping up to help grow a House majority focused on opportunity, security, and the American Dream.”
“Republicans aren’t just talking about earning Hispanic voters’ trust, we’re continuing to work and build it,” said Martinez.
Peter Pinedo is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
