Democrat Bobby Pulido defeated incumbent U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz to flip Texas’ 15th Congressional District, reclaiming the South Texas seat for his party after Republicans redrew the boundaries following strong conservative gains in the region during the 2024 presidential election.
Unofficial results reported by Texas Public Radio showed Pulido leading with 61.6% of the vote to De La Cruz’s 38.4%, marking a net margin of 23.2 percentage points. The Associated Press called the race late Tuesday night as Pulido held a commanding lead in the district, which stretches roughly 250 miles from outside San Antonio down through the Rio Grande Valley and includes parts of Corpus Christi. With roughly 89% of estimated votes counted, the numbers confirmed the outcome.
In total, Pulido secured 116,945 votes compared to 72,761 ballots cast for De La Cruz, establishing a lead of 44,184 votes. Unofficial figures from other tracking updates indicated he held nearly 67% of the vote with roughly 94,000 ballots at certain points during the evening, while an early survey by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling showed him trailing by three points with 21 percent of voters undecided before a subsequent poll by Texas Southern University placed him ahead 50 percent to 45.
Pulido Wins Tejano Support
President Donald Trump carried the district’s current boundaries by about 18 percentage points in 2024, propelling De La Cruz to a second term, The Texas Tribune reported. Pulido entered the contest as a prominent recruit for Democrats seeking to recover ground in a heavily Hispanic region that had moved right during the previous election cycle. The district itself is approximately 81% Hispanic, poorer than the state and the nation overall, and overwhelmingly Catholic.
De La Cruz made history in 2022 as the first Republican Latina elected to represent Texas in Congress and won reelection in 2024, running on her alignment with Trump and her legislative record on border security. But the mid-decade redistricting left her defending territory where roughly 75% of voters were unfamiliar with her, according to reporting by CBS News. To counter her advantage as an incumbent, Pulido leaned on his decades-long career as a two-time Latin Grammy-winning Tejano musician.
The candidate is well known for musical hits such as his 1995 breakout single ‘Desvelado’, ‘Se Murió de Amor’, and other recordings that earned him 22 Tejano Music Award nominations and eight wins, alongside five Latin Grammy nominations. He comes from a musical family, being the son of genre pioneer Roberto Pulido. Prior to winning the Democratic primary in March over emergency physician and doctor of law school graduate Ada Cuellar with roughly 68 percent of the vote, Pulido officially launched his campaign in the autumn of 2025.
The race gained national attention after De La Cruz posted a video in May dismissing her challenger as a quinceañera act,
remarking that the contest wasn’t about who voters would want performing at their family celebrations. Pulido embraced the jab, turning it into a campaign staple by continuing to perform at private events across the district. By September, he reported playing 75 such celebrations while on the campaign trail, ultimately performing at nearly 100 quinceañeras and various concerts, rallies, and Friday night football games to connect with tens of thousands of voters.
Describing his political approach, the candidate stated that he was not aligned with either major party, telling voters he represented them directly. From day one I said that I’m not Team Red and I’m not Team Blue, I’m Team You, and you proved that’s a message this community believes in,
Pulido remarked in his victory speech, adding that he pitched himself to Trump supporters by saying, I’m the Democrat that you used to vote for.
Campaign Staffing Under Scrutiny
Responding to the reporting, Pulido’s campaign dismissed the scrutiny as a smear, and accounts noted that a past podcast interview from 2019 featured Pulido mentioning he had once helped bail Caballero out of jail early in his career, though the campaign’s statements maintained the candidate was unaware of the underlying criminal charges during their time performing together.
De La Cruz also faced headwinds of her own in the newly configured district, working to distance herself from national Republican policies that faced backlash in South Texas. One of her campaign ads featured the wife of a DACA recipient detained by ICE earlier this year, KTEP News reported. She portrayed herself as an outsider while criticizing her opponent’s family ties, telling voters that Pulido comes from the corrupt, compadre system that ruled South Texas for decades,
referencing his uncle who previously served as a Hidalgo County district attorney.
De La Cruz Concedes the Race
De La Cruz conceded the race shortly after 10 p.m. on Tuesday night.
Representing South Texas has been the greatest honor of my life, and I am proud of what we delivered for our community.
U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz
In his victory remarks addressing supporters, Pulido framed his win as a rejection of partisan division in favor of local representation.
Tonight, you trusted me with something even bigger than a song, you trusted me with your future and I will work hard everyday to honor it.
Bobby Pulido, Democratic Congressional candidate for Texas
Earlier coverage: 2026 US Midterm Election Results: Live Updates and Key Outcomes
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