![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/cd-35.png\")
Redistricting turned Texas\u2019 35th Congressional District into a district Trump would have carried by more than 10 percentage points. Credit: Courtesy \/ Texas Majority PAC<\/p>\nIn the fight for control of the U.S. House this fall, Democrats are targeting two San Antonio-area districts that are considered quite red.<\/p>\n
Redistricting turned Texas\u2019 35th Congressional District into a district Trump would have carried by more than 10 percentage points. Credit: Courtesy \/ Texas Majority PAC<\/p>\n
Texas\u2019 35th Congressional District was bright blue before Republicans redrew it this summer<\/a> to create a GOP pickup opportunity on San Antonio\u2019s Southeast side. <\/p>\n Now it\u2019s a new seat that would have supported President Donald Trump by more than 10 percentage points under its new boundaries and neither party will know who their nominee for November is until after the May 26 primary runoffs<\/a>.<\/p>\n Another surprising opportunity, Texas\u2019 23rd Congressional District, hasn\u2019t been on Democrats\u2019 target map since redistricting added Republican voters after the 2020 Census.<\/p>\n Texas redistricting map: How the GOP could increase its stronghold<\/a><\/p>\n It supported Trump by nearly 15 percentage points in 2024, but U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-San Antonio) just resigned<\/a> from the seat, and Democrats are feeling optimistic about their chances against the new Republican nominee Brandon Herrera<\/a>.<\/p>\n The 30-year-old gun content creator\u2019s social media posts range from entertaining to shocking<\/a>, and Democrats hope they can capitalize on it in a November race against child welfare attorney\u00a0Katy Padilla Stout<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cBrandon Herrera\u2019s nomination is a gift to Democrats and a full-blown crisis for Republican leadership,\u201d said Katarina Flicker, a spokeswoman for the pro-Democrat House Majority PAC. \u201cHis candidacy puts TX-23 firmly on the House battlefield.\u201d<\/p>\n Democrats spending big<\/p>\n Nationwide, Democrats only need to flip a handful of seats to upend a narrow GOP House majority.<\/p>\n But they believe a wave election could be coming, and are now spending in quite a few races <\/a>so uphill that party leaders typically wouldn\u2019t include them in a target list like House Majority PAC is doing.<\/p>\n The pro-Democrat PAC currently has 48 congressional targets nationwide, including districts in Alaska, Montana, Florida and Tennessee that Trump carried by more than 10 percentage points.<\/p>\n They\u2019re also on offense in Texas\u2019 15th Congressional District, where incumbent Republican Monica De La Cruz (R-Edinburg) is up against Democrat Bobby Pulido<\/a>, the famous Tejano signer. De La Cruz\u2019s district supported Trump by nearly 18 percentage points under its new boundaries.<\/p>\n This week the House Majority PAC laid down a total of $272 million in television and digital advertising reservations for the fall.<\/p>\n About $6.1 million of that is in San Antonio for TX23 and TX35, where the group\u2019s leaders believe they can capitalize on Hispanic voters leaving the GOP.<\/p>\n Meanwhile the pro-Republican Congressional Leadership Fund has reserved $153 million<\/a> in ads for its targets nationwide, none of which went to media markets near San Antonio.<\/p>\n The PAC did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the San Antonio-area races.<\/p>\n Republicans on offense elsewhere in South Texas<\/p>\n As it stands, Republicans just reconfigured San Antonio\u2019s congressional districts to pick up seats in this area in 2026<\/a> \u2014 not lose them. <\/p>\n They still consider both TX35 and TX23 safely in their column, and as a result, haven\u2019t made them top priorities for spending this November.<\/p>\n New maps could make San Antonio\u2019s congressional delegation more red than blue<\/a><\/p>\n Instead, when both parties\u2019 national super PACs laid out their initial ad reservations this week, the GOP-aligned Congressional Leadership Fund chose to target two incumbent Democrats whose districts are further south.<\/p>\n The PAC is planning to spend money in TX28, represented by U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Laredo), and TX34, represented by U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-McAllen).<\/p>\n Such investments come as Republicans have tried to knock off Cuellar in the past and failed, but this year redrew his district to remove the Bexar County parts, ostensibly making it easier for his Republican opponent, Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina<\/a>.<\/p>\n After redistricting, 43% of Bexar County residents are in a new congressional district<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1777044909_766_tx23-katy-padilla-stout-v-brandon-herrera.jpg\")
In the race to replace U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-San Antonio), Democrats nominated attorney Katy Padilla Stout (left) while Republicans will lean on YouTube creator Brandon Herrera (right). Credit: Salgu Wissmath \/ Brenda Baz\u00e1n for the San Antonio Report<\/p>\n