The Rep. Vicente Gonzalez and Bobby Pulido Endorsements
Trump is trying to gerrymander Texas. Here are two candidates who can fight back.
Earlier this year, fearing backlash against his unpopular agenda, President Trump called on Texas to enact a rare mid-decade redistricting. The plan was to take advantage of the Republican Party’s newfound favorability among Hispanic voters to add key seats into their column. As we noted at the time, the plan carried risks: if Democrats nominated centrists and Hispanics soured on Trump’s agenda, Democrats could break the gerrymander.
Last week, the Supreme Court upheld the gerrymander after a lower court struck it down, meaning that Democrats will need to win two border districts that Trump won to turn this gerrymander into a dud.
WelcomePAC is making two new endorsements that will increase the chance Democrats derail the GOP’s gerrymander: Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (TX-34) and Bobby Pulido (TX-15), two culturally competent, centrist Texas Democrats who fit their districts and speak to their voters’ concerns.
Rep. Vicente Gonzalez
Rep. Vicente Gonzalez is a proven over-performer who has consistently held the line in South Texas by prioritizing veterans and energy independence over national party orthodoxy. He has repeatedly demonstrated crossover appeal and an ability to outpace top-of-the-ticket Democrats in South Texas.
As we wrote earlier this year:
This morning, our team talked to Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, who represents a district Trump won by 5 points. That’s where our focus is - learning how we can support leaders like Vicente to win back a majority.
Here is what we learned:
Last year, MAGA donors spent $8 million against Vicente, outspending Democrats by $3 million.
But voters sent him back because they know Vicente - they know his working class background, and his focus on affordability and sensible policies on energy & immigration.
So now, Texas Republicans are trying to change his voters. You’ve probably heard about what they’re doing, but you may not know that there are ONLY TWO TRUMP DISTRICTS THAT DEMOCRATS WON in all of Texas.
Vicente over-performs with Hispanic voters not in spite of his moderation, but because of it: Hispanic voters hold moderate views.
Gonzalez was one of 46 Democrats to vote yes on the Laken Riley Act, which mandates the detention of undocumented immigrants who commit crimes like burglary and theft. This vote was a strategic necessity for Democrats to prove the party is prioritizing voters’ concerns with immigrant-related crime, a top issue in his border district.
He also frequently breaks with his party to support deregulation bills like the “Small Business Regulatory Reduction Act” and the “DUMP Red Tape Act,” aligning himself with local business interests over federal agencies. Notably, Gonzalez voted against the Assault Weapons Ban in 2022, breaking with the majority of his caucus to align with the hunting and sportsman culture of South Texas, and he and fellow Texan Rep. Henry Cuellar were the only Democrats in the country to vote for the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act. Gonzalez supports an all-of-the-above energy strategy that leverages all of America’s energy resources and options to keep costs low.
We’re proudly supporting Rep. Gonzalez because the way to fight MAGA extremism is to win the middle. This year, he is running in a redrawn TX-34 (Trump +10) where he could face a rematch with Mayra Flores, who denied the 2020 election results, regularly tweeted using the QAnon hashtag, and supports Texas’ law banning abortion even in cases of rape and incest, as well as a federal abortion ban.
Bobby Pulido
Bobby Pulido is a legendary Tejano musician (check him out!) and small business owner, making him the ultimate political outsider. He represents a new-generation challenger whose appeal aligns with Welcome’s belief that Democrats can regain ground in South Texas by focusing on costs, community safety, and resisting the status quo that has frustrated voters. In a district Republicans redrew to be safe (+18 Trump), Pulido’s deep cultural ties and name ID offer a unique opportunity to reclaim the working-class vote.
Pulido has criticized Biden’s open borders policies, called out the use of the term “Latinx,” and highlighted his faith and support for American energy, calling himself a “Tejano Democrat.”
”I’m proud to be from the [Rio Grande Valley],” he said. “And I’m proud to say that in the RGV, people vote for the person, not the party.”
Pulido believes Democrats can improve their standing across the region by focusing on economic issues and leaning into religion.
As industries across South Texas contend with tariffs, labor shortages and immigration raids, Pulido said he plans to discuss economic solutions — including changes to immigration policy — with voters as he considers whether to run. Latinos in the region are culturally conservative, he added, but the right Democrat could win them over.
“The further left we run on certain things, certain Latino voters are not in agreement with it — that’s just a fact,” Pulido said. “But I still believe that as a Democratic Party, we’re a big tent, and we’ll accept all kinds of people. I also think that you can have the right messengers.”
Last cycle, incumbent Republican Rep. Monica De La Cruz faced left-wing progressive Michelle Vallejo, who backed Medicare for All and free public college while having no policies to address the border crisis or rising crime. She had to walk back a 2022 interview when she decried “border militarization” and tried running to the center, but she couldn’t outrun her past left-wing affiliation and lost 43% to 57% last year.
Monica De La Cruz could be vulnerable to the right challenger. She’s been quietly trying to cover up her past stances, such as supporting an extreme abortion ban and privatizing Social Security. Sixty percent of the new district wasn’t in her old district.
In 2024, Welcome-endorsed candidates over-performed the top of the ticket by an average of nearly 6%. In a district like TX-15, Pulido has a real shot at victory, providing Democrats with a huge win in the House.
The Opportunity
President Trump’s economic agenda is already causing support among Hispanic Independents to plummet. The recent elections in Virginia and New Jersey show this trend, with Hispanic areas shifting dramatically toward Democrats.
As we showed in Deciding To Win, Democrats are struggling with non-college Hispanics, in large part due to their extreme positions on cultural issues.
Rep. Gonzalez and Bobby Pulido can win back Hispanic voters in South Texas and turn the Republican gerrymander on its head. We hope you’ll join us in supporting their races.