The special election in Texas’s Thirty-fourth Congressional District, slated to happen on June 14 to fill the vacant House seat left by U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela’s (D-TX) retirement, is rated as a “toss-up” by the Cook Political Report, meaning the race could go either to the Democrat or the Republican.
The Cook Political Report rated the “toss-up,” noting that Vela’s retirement did not help the Democrats, especially since Democrat Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX), who ditched his district, was hoping to slide into this congressional seat.
Cook wrote:
Now, GOP Gov. Greg Abbott has used his authority to call an “emergency” June 14 special election that could not only shine a national spotlight on Democrats’ disconnect with Hispanic voters, but give Republicans the power of incumbency in November’s race for a full term.
Democrats didn’t think this seat would be a problem this cycle. After Vela first announced his retirement last year, neighboring Democrat Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (TX-15) of McAllen declared he would slide over into Vela’s open Brownsville 34th CD. After all, GOP-led redistricting had made the McAllen 15th CD redder (Biden +2 to Trump +3) and made Vela’s seat even bluer (Biden +4 to Biden +15) and more Hispanic (89 percent).
…
This race is coming at the worst possible time for Democrats: just a week ago, the Biden administration announced it would rescind Title 42, the Trump-era emergency public health order that allowed border patrol agents to turn away asylum seekers illegally crossing the Mexico border. That gives Flores and Republicans a signature line of attack, given voters’ fears of a growing humanitarian catastrophe in their backyard.
While every state across the country has gone through the redistricting process, the special election will be in the current district since the special election is to fill the vacancy for the rest of the current term of the 117th Congress, which ends January 2023.
Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter.