Republican Maya Flores made history last night by becoming the first Mexican-born congresswoman to serve in the House after beating a Democrat in a primary election in Texas.
A once solidly Democratic district in South Texas will now be represented by the Republican after Flores beat Democrat Dan Sanchez in a special primary election to finish the term of former Democratic Rep. Filemon Vela, who resigned this year to become a lobbyist.
Flores, a GOP organizer who is the daughter of migrant workers, will hold the seat for several months before the district is redrawn to be more favorable to Democrats.
But her victory in the heavily Hispanic Rio Grand Valley is an ominous sign for Democrats – and demonstrates that Republicans are making inroads with Hispanic voters.
And in South Carolina, Donald Trump notched a significant victory after his preferred candidate, Rep. Russell Fry, easily ousted five-term Rep. Tom Rice, the first Republican to be ousted from office after voting to impeach the former president last year over the January 6 insurrection.
But another high-profile Republican target of Trump in the state, Rep. Nancy Mace, managed to hold back a challenger.
Meanwhile, in Nevada, Trump’s pick, Adam Laxalt, won his U.S. Senate primary, defeating a populist candidate who is arguably more representative of the Trump base.
The trio of races was called Tuesday night around 11 p.m., after voters went to the polls in South Carolina, Texas’ 34th Congressional District, Nevada, North Dakota and Maine.
Trump has gone state-by-state backing primary challengers for the 10 lawmakers or helping motivate their retirements. He’s also taken on Republican lawmakers like Mace who made critical statements.
Republican Maya Flores (pictured hugging a supporter in San Benito, Texas, on Tuesday before the results were announced) made history last night by becoming the first Mexican-born congresswoman to serve in the House after beating a Democrat in a primary election in Texas
South Carolina Rep. Russell Fry celebrates his win over U.S. Rep. Tom Rice for his congressional seat in the Republican primary, at the 8th Avenue Tiki Bar in Myrtle Beach, on Tuesday
Rep. Tom Rice was one of 10 GOP House members to vote in favor of Trump’s second impeachment. Trump has gone state-by-state fielding challengers against impeachment backers, or motivating their retirements
Rep. Nancy Mace speaks to reporters after beating challenger Katie Arrington on Tuesday. Mace was critical of former President Donald Trump after January 6, but campaigned by telling voters she was politically aligned with the ex-president
Flores’ win makes her the first Mexican-born American to serve in the US House. She will also be the first Republican Latina from the state of Texas to serve.
Her victory also has implications for Democrats’ ambitions in Congress, denying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi an opportunity to add to her slim two-vote margin to pass legislation.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said he had voted for Republican for the first time in order to vote for Flores.
He tweeted: ‘I voted for Mayra Flores – first time I ever voted Republican. Massive red wave in 2022.’
Flores, who has echoed Trump’s fraudulent election claims, immigrated to the United States as a child and her parents were farmworkers in Texas.
She’s now married to a Border Patrol agent and promotes strict immigration policies.
Meanwhile, Rice was defeated in his Republican primary in South Carolina by state Rep. Russell Fry, who was endorsed by Trump. Fry was leading the incumbent lawmaker by more than 26 points when the race was called by the Associated Press at 11:01 p.m. on Tuesday night.
Rice is the first of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump to lose a reelection bid. He was a strong supporter of Trump’s policies in Washington but said he was left no choice but to impeach Trump over his failure to calm the mob that violently sought to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s victory.
Mace of South Carolina also angered Trump, but she sought to make amends and won her GOP primary over her own Trump-backed challenger.
Republican Mayra Flores won a special election for the vacant 34th Congressional District in Texas Tuesday night. She’ll be the first Mexican-born American to serve in the House of Representatives
Russell Fry, the Trump-backed challenger to Republican Rep. Tom Rice, celebrates his win Tuesday night at the 8th Avenue Tiki Bar in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Fry was beating Rice by more than 26 points when the race was called
An emotional Katie Arrington reacts after losing to incumbent Rep. Nancy Mace in Tuesday night’s South Carolina for the 1st Congressional District House seat. Arrington had the backing of former President Donald Trump, but that wasn’t enough to take out Mace
The biggest prize for Trump will be taking out Rep. Liz Cheney in Wyoming’s primary in August. She’s the top Republican lawmaker on the House select committee on January 6.
Rice had the help of more traditionally mainstream Republicans, including former House Speaker Paul Ryan and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
But Fry got the coveted endorsement of Trump in February, and the president appeared alongside Fry in a Florence, South Carolina rally in March.
In South Carolina, candidates need to get to 50 percent plus one in order to avoid a run-off.
Mace criticized Trump after the January 6 Capitol attack, but more recently filmed a campaign video in front of Trump Tower reinforcing that they were politically aligned.
Former President Donald Trump’s (right) embrace of Katie Arrington (left) still didn’t help her unseat Rep. Nancy Mace, who was critical of the ex-president after January 6, but pressed to voters that they were politically aligned
Trump-endorsed Republican hopeful Katie Arrington, a former South Carolina state rep, speaks with reporters outside a polling place Tuesday in Summerville, South Carolina. She’s challenging Rep. Nancy Mace, who was critical of Trump after January 6
That didn’t matter to the ex-president who backed Katie Arrington, despite the fact that she lost the district to a Democrat in the 2018 midterms.
‘Don’t forget that Katie Arrington, a wonderful person, is running against the terrible Nancy Mace, who really let us down,’ Trump said in a statement Sunday ahead of election day.
‘Nancy fights Republicans all the time and is not at all nice about it. Frankly, she is despised by almost everyone, and who needs that in Congress, or in the Republican Party?’ the ex-president asked.
In the past, Mace has publicly feuded with Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a top Trump acolyte.
But a number of Republicans feared that if Arrington won the seat it would again be lost like it was four years ago when Democratic Rep. Joe Cunningham beat Arrington, turning the Charleston-adjacent district blue for the first time since 1981.
Cunningham won the Democratic primary Tuesday night in South Carolina’s governor’s race.
Democrat Dan Sanchez lost a special election to Republican Mayra Flores for Texas’ 34th Congressional District. Flores will only be in the seat through January, however, with the district much friendlier to Democrats when Flores and Rep. Vicente Gonzalez face-off on the November ballot
Republican Mayra Flores (left) was captured praying at her watch party Tuesday night in San Benito, Texas. She won a special election to fill a vacant seat through January and will also be on the ballot as the Republican nominee for a full two-year term in November
Mayra Flores (right) becomes the first Mexican-born member of Congress with her special election win Tuesday night. She is pictured in Washington with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (center) last month
Signs of support for Republican candidate Mayra Flores decorate a lawn outside a polling location in Harlingen, Texas on Tuesday. Flores flipped a predominantly Democratic district to become the first Mexican-born member of the U.S. House
Democratic Rep. Filemon Vela Jr. had announced that he would retire from Congress after this term, but in March said he would be leaving his seat early to go work for Akin Gump, a law and lobbying firm, which triggered the special election.
The election is only to fill the seat until the end of Vela’s term, which ends in January.
And while Republicans will likely point to the race as an indicator that the Democrats are doomed in November, that particular district becomes far friendlier to Democrats thanks to the new boundaries drawn due to reapportionment.
The current boundaries give Democrats a five-point advantage, while the new boundaries will give Democrats a 17-point one.
Sanchez was also a pro-life Democrat, currently not a popular position in the party due to the erosion of abortion rights around the country.
Flores is the Republican nominee to run in November as well, but Sanchez is not – instead Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez won the Democratic primary and will appear on the ballot.
Gonzalez, who has been in Congress since 2017, changed district when redistricting made his 15th Congressional District more competitive.
Republican Nevada Senate hopeful Sam Brown had momentum at the end of his primary race against the former state Attorney General Adam Laxalt, but he was still bested by Laxalt who had former President Donald Trump’s blessing
The Republican Senate primary in Nevada was called for Adam Laxalt (pictured) at 1:02 a.m. EST. He was about 22 points ahead of rival Sam Brown
Voters in Nevada also went to the polls Tuesday.
Trump picked former state Attorney General Adam Laxalt to receive his endorsement among the Republicans running for Senate, though U.S. military veteran Sam Brown was seeing momentum as election day neared.
Laxalt – who co-chaired Turmp’s 2020 campaign in Nevada – announced a lawsuit in the aftermath of the 2020 election falsely claiming there were thousands of improper votes cast in Nevada.
Brown has been running to the right of Laxalt arguing to voters that the attorney general didn’t do enough to help Trump contest the race.
Still Laxalt had an edge, beating Brown by about 22 points with around 40 per cent of the vote in.
The race was called at 1:02 a.m. EST.
Another 2020 election denier, Jim Marchant, will likely win the GOP nomination for Nevada secretary of state.
The winner of the Republican Senate primary will face incumbent Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, considered one of the most endangered members of her party this year.
Cortez Masto easily won her race despite facing several Democratic challengers. hart.
North Dakota and Maine also held primaries Tuesday, but with no heavily contested races.
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