Million-dollar campaigns, red hot races: 2024 in Valley politics

HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Politics in the Rio Grande Valley has become competitive and hot over the past five years.

It’s turned into multi-million-dollar campaigns and exposure in the national spotlight.

We look back at 2024 when local politics hit a peak.

GRUBGATE

The year began with a series of primaries with predictable outcomes. However, former Congresswoman Mayra Flores had a scandal on her hands in January. She was accused of taking other people’s photos and posting them on social media as her own. Flores spoke with us about what became known as "Grubgate."

"The Democrat party and my opponent, Vicente Gonzalez, choose to focus on food pictures that inspired me and remind me of upbringings, and Elon Musk retweeted that, and, you know, pretty much helped me significantly," Flores told us.

CUELLAR INDICTED

Then, another scandal emerged in May as the U.S. representative representing Starr County, Congressman Henry Cuellar, was indicted. Cuellar and his wife were alleged to have taken nearly $600,000 in bribes. Later in the year, Cuellar spoke with us on Inside Valley Politics about the indictment.

"The timing was a very suspect that was in the middle of a very tough primary race where the other side was spending millions of dollars, and 40 days before that, they searched my home, and as you know, I was one of the most outspoken individuals against the administration when it came to border security," Cuellar said in the interview this month.

ASSASINATION ATTEMPT

Then, in the red hot political summer the unthinkable happened. In a July rally in Butler, Pennsylvania , former President Donald Trump was struck on the ear by a would-be assassin’s bullet. That night, Congresswoman Monica De La Cruz gave us an exclusive interview.

“There's no room for that here in the United States, many families fled political violence in Latin America, and this cannot be tolerated,” the Texas district 15 congresswoman told us on that summer night.

BIDEN STEPS DOWN

Later that month, President Joe Biden stepped down as Democratic nominee. The night of his announcement, Congressman Vicente Gonzalez, a strong ally of Biden, stopped by our studios for an exclusive interview to address why he fought for Biden until the very end.

“I sure was. You know, President Biden is a friend of mine. He's someone who I was able to bring down to our district. He helped me bring down $2 billion to my congressional district in the last couple of years," Gonzalez explained.

EXCLUSIVE DISTRICT 34 DEBATE

As the November general election drew closer, the two candidates for the US House seat in district 34, Republican nominee and former Rep. Mayra Flores and Gonzalez came to our studios for their first and only debate. Among the issues they jousted on was on the price of groceries.

"I find it a huge disrespect to blame our grocery stores because of the prices. The reason why they have this crisis is because of the cost. They have to do this. It's your responsibility," Flores said to Gonzalez.

“It’s a supply line issue!,” Gonzalez responded.

It should also be noted that all three incumbent U.S. House members in the Valley won re-election.

At the state and local level there were fascinating races, including a state senate district 27 rematch race between incumbent Democrat Morgan LaMantia and Republican challenger Adam Hinojosa. Hinojosa won by just over one percentage point.

Perhaps the most memorable part of 2024 in Valley politics for us was how many of the key players joined us here on our show Inside Valley Politics and how much response we received from you the viewers. It was a reminder for all of us of the importance of being involved and educated on the issues.