Mayra Flores made it official on Tuesday.
The former Republican U.S. representative from South Texas announced she’s running for her old seat, Texas Congressional District 34. She likely will face U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX), who defeated her in the 2022 general election.
“I’m announcing for Congress. We are taking back our seat,” Flores said, launching her bid on the Fox News show Fox and Friends.
“I’m very excited, and I have a lot of faith in God and my family, and my amazing team that we will flip this district and take back what is ours in 2024. The people of South Texas, the American people, deserve to have a voice in Washington.”
Flores said her primary concerns have been border security, the economy, and child trafficking.
“We want to empower our border patrol agents, strengthen our border security, of course, our economy as well, and protect the children like I mentioned before that are being trafficked in this country right now,” Flores said.
“This is for the people, and I ask the American people to support this campaign. This is a people’s campaign,” she added.
Flores, from Los Indios, was elected to the seat in June 2022 in a special election. Five months later, she lost to Gonzalez. The McAllen Democrat carried the district with 52.7% of the vote.
Gonzalez, who self-funded his campaign, said the GOP spent $7 million to defeat him but failed.
“Even with these large investments, we showed the Republican party that South Texas is not their home,” Gonzalez said on election night, according to The Texas Tribune.
The National Republican Congressional Committee said polling data shows Flores in a virtual dead heat with Gonzalez, The Dallas Express reported previously.
Flores, the wife of a Border Patrol agent, made an appearance in Dallas earlier this year at the “Tough Tejano Awards.” She told the audience she learned her conservative values from her mother.
“Our values align with the Republican Party. Our values align. I am pro-God, pro-life, pro-family,” she said. “The Democrat Party stands against everything we stand for.”