EXCLUSIVE — Former Texas Republican Rep. Mayra Flores hauled in more donations in the two weeks since her campaign launch than her opponent, Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX), did during the whole second quarter of this year, according to the Flores campaign.
Flores, who won a 2022 special election to represent the 34th Congressional District in Texas before it was redrawn and later lost in the general election that year to Gonzalez by roughly 11,400 votes, announced her 2024 candidacy on July 11. The Republican's reelection campaign has already received almost $266,000 since mid-July, surpassing the $250,000 Gonzalez's campaign disclosed pocketing between April and June, a representative for Flores told the Washington Examiner.
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"The early support for our campaign has been so encouraging, and I can’t thank all the donors enough for believing in our movement," Flores said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. "Together, we will flip this district and bring our conservative values of God, family, country back to Washington."
The fundraising revelation comes as the GOP prepares to spend large sums of money to retake the 34th Congressional District, which counts a largely Hispanic population and saw a 27.5% shift in favor of Republicans from 2016 to 2022, according to the National Republican Congressional Committee. The committee commissioned a poll in May that found Flores and Gonzalez tied at 42% in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup.
Meanwhile, Flores has racked up endorsements from top House Republicans, including Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN), and Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY). The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee released a mid-July memo labeling Gonzalez as a "popular incumbent," noting, “If Flores, running from the position of an incumbent, couldn’t hold on to this seat in what was supposed to be a Red Wave election for Republicans, there’s no way she’ll be successful in a presidential election year against Gonzalez."
The Flores campaign said it has received roughly 10,000 individual donations to date, including donors from all 50 states and Puerto Rico. The average contribution to boost the Republican is under $30, the campaign said.
Gonzalez ended the second quarter with $721,000 in cash on hand in his campaign account, according to filings. He pulled in a total of $3.1 million from January 2021 to December 2022, while Flores disclosed receiving over $4.6 million during that time period. A since-terminated joint fundraising committee affiliated with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) steered over $76,500 to the Flores campaign in September 2022.
The 34th Congressional District in Texas still leans Democratic in 2024, according to the Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan elections tracker.
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"South Texans are ready to retire Vicente Gonzalez and his anti-law enforcement, open border policies," NRCC spokeswoman Delanie Bomar told the Washington Examiner. "There is clear enthusiasm for Republicans' work to secure the southern border and bring down costs for American families.”
The Gonzalez campaign did not return a request for comment.