\u201c[It\u2019s] one of the prognosticators that people basically see as the gold standard,\u201d U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) said of the Cook rankings on a visit to San Antonio<\/a> in August to rally with Republican nominee Texas\u2019 35th Congressional District, Carlos De La Cruz<\/a>.<\/p>\n All members of Congress are up for reelection at the same time, but after years of gerrymandering, very few districts are competitive enough to draw big spending and attention from party leaders.\u00a0<\/p>\n As of Friday, Cook rankings listed just 17 races \u2014 or fewer than 5% of all districts across the country \u2014 in the \u201ctossup\u201d column, meaning either party could win them.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of them that we are watching the closest is this one right here in South Texas,\u201d Johnson said of TX35.<\/p>\n Republicans entered this midterm election with a very slim U.S. House majority, and redrew Texas\u2019 districts with the hope of picking up seats to offset losses elsewhere.<\/p>\n Read more: The battle for the U.S. House runs through South Texas: A cheat sheet to the races<\/a><\/p>\n Texas\u2019 35th Congressional District on San Antonio\u2019s Southeast Side is an entirely new district that Republicans created for themselves, and Johnson dubbed it the \u201cwhole enchilada<\/a>\u201d in the battle for control of the House. <\/p>\n The GOP made TX35 by chopping up U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz\u2019s (R-Edinburg) 15th Congressional District, which moved to the \u201ctossup\u201d column earlier this month. It used to reach up into the San Antonio suburbs, but under new maps<\/a>, its northern part now stops east of Bexar County.<\/p>\n This part of the state swung hard toward President Donald Trump two years ago, and the two redrawn districts would have supported him by about 10 points and 18 percentage points, respectively.<\/p>\n In the final months, however, Democrats are giving them a run for their money in South Texas<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Recent polls<\/a> show Democrats gaining steam with Latino voters and making inroads<\/a> with those frustrated by the state of the economy.<\/p>\n \u201cRepublicans\u2019 path to keeping control of the House has all but evaporated,\u201d said Cook Political Report U.S. House Editor Erin Covey<\/a> in the newly released ratings. \u201cFollowing this latest round of ratings changes, Democrats now are favored outright in the 218 seats they need to win control of the House.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Another deep-red San Antonio-area seat, Texas\u2019 23rd Congressional District, also shifted in favor of Democrats, moving from \u201clikely Republican\u201d to \u201clean Republican.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n That\u2019s where Republican Tony Gonzales resigned<\/a> in April after admitting to an affair with a staffer. Brandon Herrera<\/a>, a social media star with a gift for stirring up controversy<\/a>, now faces off against Democrat Katy Padilla Stout<\/a> in the race that\u2019s drawing national attention and spending.<\/p>\n Meanwhile the Cook Political Report says South Texas districts currently held by Democrats U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Laredo)<\/a> and U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez<\/a> (D-McAllen) are considered \u201clean Democrat\u201d and \u201clikely Democrat,\u201d respectively.<\/p>\n TX35<\/p>\n Carlos De La Cruz, a relatively unknown Air Force veteran before Trump boosted him from obscurity with a coveted endorsement, is the brother of U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz<\/a>.<\/p>\n Democrats nominated longtime Bexar County sheriff\u2019s deputy Johnny Garcia<\/a>, an \u201cold-school Democrat\u201d who has proven tough for Republicans to slap a \u201cprogressive\u201d label on.<\/p>\n Both parties have spent big in the race, and sent all their star power<\/a> to rally troops. Trump, Johnson, former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona) have all visited San Antonio in recent weeks to support their party\u2019s candidates.\u00a0<\/p>\n U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) is set to rally with Garcia this weekend. Jeffries would become the speaker<\/a> if Democrats take the House.<\/p>\n TX15<\/p>\n In Monica De La Cruz\u2019s<\/a> Congressional District 15, some red strongholds were drawn out of the district to help shift the balance in favor of Republicans elsewhere.<\/p>\n She lost some of the area west of San Antonio that was used to create the new 35th Congressional District, where her brother is the GOP nominee<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, she faces a Democratic challenger with significant name recognition in Tejano music singer Bobby Pulido<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n De La Cruz\u00a0 has now deemed herself the \u201cunderdog\u201d<\/a> in a district she currently represents.\u00a0<\/p>\n Republicans are now having to spend heavily<\/a> to shore up her seat. <\/p>\n South Texas<\/p>\n The race for Texas\u2019 34th Congressional District between Vicente Gonzalez (D-McAllen) and Republican challenger Eric Flores shifted from toss-up to lean Democrat on Friday.<\/p>\n Henry Cuellar is hoping to survive yet another attempt to pry power from his hands, as his race against Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina<\/a> for Congressional District 28 moved from lean Democrat to likely Democrat.<\/p>\n Closest to home, the 23rd Congressional District, which once seemed like a lock for Republicans has now shifted to lean Republican.<\/p>\n Even as GOP leadership has embraced Herrera, Democrats see a narrow path to victory through Padilla Stout, a child welfare attorney and first-time candidate.\u00a0<\/p>\n The party out of power in the White House typically picks up seats in a midterm election. Across these five South Texas districts, Democrats hope frustration<\/a> over gas prices and the war in Iran are enough to flip some seats. They have also been looking to make gains among Latinos<\/a> in minority-majority districts, hoping to claw back some of the support Trump won last election.<\/p>\n Andrea Drusch contributed to this report. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the latest sign of a tough election for Republicans, this month two San Antonio-area congressional races drawn…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":474995,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[68745,13909,75410,80640,145,71971,15660,75429,20114,5023,287,8234,82,84,83,160969,155416,160970,160971,81652,3028,160972,160973],"class_list":["post-474994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-blue-wave","tag-bobby-pulido","tag-carlos-de-la-cruz","tag-cook-political-report","tag-donald-trump","tag-eric-flores","tag-henry-cuellar","tag-katy-padilla-stout","tag-midterms","tag-monica-de-la-cruz","tag-politics","tag-republican","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news","tag-tx15","tag-tx23","tag-tx28","tag-tx34","tag-tx35","tag-typedaily","tag-us-house-of-reps","tag-vicente-gonzalz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=474994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474994\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/474995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=474994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=474994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=474994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792802891_639_texas-35-1.png\")
Congressional District 35 under its new boundaries after mid-cycle redistricting.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/tx15.png\")
Congressional District 15 under its new boundaries after mid-cycle redistricting.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792802893_427_A66A0259.jpg\")
U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R-Edinburg) cheers on her brother Carlos De La Cruz as he makes his victory speech at the club level of Retama Park. Credit: Vincent Reyna for the San Antonio Report<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/KristianCarranza_HD118DemocraticCandidate_LeagueOfWomenVotersForum04_09.16.2026_AmberEsparza.jpg\")
TX-35 Congressional Candidate Johnny Garcia makes an appearance at the League of Women Voters HD118 Candidate Forum at Brooks on Sept. 16, 2026. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/20260925-Battle-for-South-Texas-EH-TTF26-08.jpg\")
Bobby Pulido speaks during a panel discussion at The Texas Tribune Festival 2026 on Sept. 25, 2026. Credit: Eli Hartman for the Texas Tribune<\/p>\n