MCALLEN, Texas – The minority leader of the Texas House says he is going to ensure Hidalgo County Democratic Party gets the funding it needs to be competitive in the 2026 election.

State Rep. Gene Wu of Houston visited the Valley recently to hear from Young Democrats and grassroots progressives. In a meeting at the Hidalgo County Democratic Party HQ in McAllen, the young activists told him they felt the region had been neglected by the state and national party, thereby allowing Republicans to make significant inroads. 

Hidalgo County Democratic Party Chairman Richard Gonzales was at the meeting. He said he has warned every local Democratic Party elected official to expect a Republican challenger at the next election. “The Republicans are well-funded,” Gonzales said. 

In an in-depth interview with the Rio Grande Guardian, Wu said:

“In my time as caucus chair, I’ve talked a lot of communities and talked a lot of communities that say they’ve kind of been left behind, kind of been forgotten. And I thought about this. I thought about South Texas, I thought about the Rio Grande Valley. And I wanted to make sure that they were not forgotten; that there are people who remember who they are and realize that they’re important. And I want to make sure that that my actions reflect that.”

State Rep. Gene Wu, minority leader of the Texas House, had an in-depth meeting with Hidalgo County Young Democrats. (Photo: RGG/Steve Taylor)

Asked what he had learned from both a tour of Hidalgo County and a meeting with Young Democrats, Wu said:

“I learned that this is a beautiful community that wants to move ahead, that wants to do better. But, because we didn’t put in the resources, we didn’t put in the time and the investments – and we’re not just talking about the state, we’re not just talking about Democrats, we’re talking about everybody – we left this place behind. And that is a shame, because this is such a wonderful place with such wonderful people.”

Wu pointed out that the Valley was not new to him.

“I was here about 15 years ago. I clerked the 13th Court of Appeals, for Justice Dori Garza – a great judge by the way. And, when I came here this place was jumping. It was it was growing. It was expanding. There were parties everywhere,” Wu said.

“I look around and I don’t see that anymore. Some of the beauty is gone, and I want to find out what happened to it. I want to find out how we can bring that back. I want to figure out how we can use the state’s investments and how we can use the federal investments to bring the vibrancy, the light, the color, back into this community and make the people around here be proud again.”

Hidalgo County Democratic Party Chairman Richard Gonzales. (Photo: RGG/Steve Taylor)

Heading into his meeting with Hidalgo County Young Democrats, Wu said he had spoken to the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. 

“The first thing I said to him was, I’m here in South Texas. They need help. They need investments, and they deserve to be remembered. They deserve to be considered.”

Wu told the Guardian that the AFL-CIO has also announced it is going to invest in South Texas, a move he welcomed. 

“This area has been sold a bill of goods by those who want to weaken the community, because a weak community means cheaper labor costs for them. Not having union jobs means having cheaper labor costs for them. But those have a consequence for the people here. They have consequences for those families. When those families aren’t in a union, they’re making less money. They’re losing their health benefits. That doesn’t help them. It helps their bosses,” Wu said.

“Just today the AFL CIO has announced that they are coming to invest in South Texas, just like Democrats are coming to invest in South Texas, just like National Democrats are coming to invest in South Texas. Not because we just want to win elections, because we see another community that has been shafted, that has been stomped on by other people. And we want to lift all communities into the American Dream that they deserve.”

Wu also spoke about the recent ICE raids in the Valley. 

“We drove through downtown McAllen, going down the street on a Saturday afternoon. These streets should be filled of cars, filled with people shopping and laughing and going out to eat and doing all these things. I saw maybe like five people,” Wu said.

“What I did see was half the restaurants, half the bars, half the shops permanently closed because there are no workers, because they’ve all been deported, or even the ones that not been deported are too scared to come out. Even the ones who are American citizens are scared because they might accidentally be rounded up. This doesn’t help us. 

“We don’t need mass deportation. We need sensible immigration that says, kick the criminals out, let the workers in. That’s it. It’s common sense. We can’t do that, but we have to make Washington do that.”

The Guardian’s last question to Wu was about the financial commitment he made to the Young Democrats and the Hidalgo County Democratic Party. Was it really going to happen?

“Time and time again, people have come down here. They have said beautiful things about everything, but after that, they’re gone, in a flash. No more. If we say that we value something, if we say that we care about something, then it requires sacrifice,” Wu said.

“We sacrifice for our families. We sacrifice for our loved ones. If we say that we care about the RGV, we say we care about South Texas, then put your money where your mouth is. I’m going to put my money where my mouth is. I want to make sure that Democrats throughout the state do not forget the working-class people, do not forget the communities that make life possible. And do not forget the people who built Texas.”

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Young Democrat: Legislators need to come on an ‘unvarnished tour’ of the RGV

McALLEN, Texas – Julio Salinas is chairman of Texas Young Democrats.

State Rep. Gene Wu and Hidalgo County Young Democrat Julio Salinas.

On Saturday, July 12, 2025, Salinas took state Rep. Gene Wu of Houston on a tour of key locations in Hidalgo County. Wu is minority leader in the Texas House of Representatives.

Following the tour, Hidalgo County Young Democrats met with Wu. They spoke about the “devastating impact” ICE raids were having on Valley communities. And they impressed upon Wu the need for more investment in the Democratic Party in the Rio Grande Valley.

Salinas said he would like to see Texas House members come down to the Valley for an “unvarnished” tour, to see the sights the Rio Grande Valley Partnership does not take state lawmakers to when they do their bi-annual Valley Legislative Tour.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Salinas gave an interview to the Rio Grande Guardian. Here is the interview:

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