Speaker Johnson endorses Mayra Flores for rematch in key House race

EXCLUSIVE — Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is endorsing Mayra Flores in her high-profile rematch against Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX) in a key House race that could shift the balance of power in the lower chamber next year.

Johnson threw his support behind Flores on Thursday, lauding the former congresswoman as the best Republican candidate to clinch the competitive seat that contains a dense Hispanic voting population. Flores previously served in Congress after winning a special election last summer but was later ousted when she ran in a new district against Gonzalez in the 2022 midterm elections.

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“Mayra Flores made history last year by becoming the first Mexican-born woman elected to the U.S. House, and I am excited to fully endorse her candidacy in Texas’ 34th Congressional District,” Johnson said in a statement. “Mayra’s strong conservative message of God, Family, & Country has resonated with voters from all walks of life who no longer identify with the current radicalism of the Democrats. We need Mayra back in Congress so she can help our Republican majority secure the border, rein in government overreach, and restore fiscal sanity in Washington.”

Johnson will also add Flores to his new joint fundraising committee Grow the Majority, which will funnel thousands of dollars to her reelection campaign. Flores has already raised over $860,000 in donations between July and September, more than the $858,314 Gonzalez raised during the first three quarters of 2023, according to campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.

The endorsement comes as Flores and Gonzalez are set to face off in a rematch for the highly contested House seat, which is expected to be one of the competitive seats of the 2024 cycle. Gonzalez defeated Flores by just 8 points last year, and recent polling commissioned by the National Republican Congressional Committee shows the two less than a point apart in a head-to-head matchup.

Gonzalez is one of House Republicans’ top targets for the 2024 cycle, and the seat is rated to lean Democratic, according to the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. The Democratic lawmaker brushed off threats to his incumbency, noting Flores must first survive a crowded primary before facing him for the House seat. The field includes four other Republicans seeking the nomination: Laura Cisneros, Mauro Garza, Gregory Kunkle Jr., and Ann Marie Torres.

“That’s great news,” Gonzalez said of Johnson’s endorsement. “We beat her by 9 points in what many anticipated would be a red wave midterm election. We hope she can garner enough support to win her crowded primary. This will make things a lot easier for us in November.”

Flores won the longtime Democratic House district that sits along the southern border with Mexico in an upset against Democrat Dan Sanchez. She later lost the general election after the district was redrawn in a way that was more favorable to Democrats.

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All 435 seats are up for grabs in 2024 as Republicans seek to hold their slim majority in the lower chamber. Of these, 45 are considered competitive, with most of those held by Democrats, giving the GOP a slight advantage as it prepares for the next election cycle.

However, of the 45 competitive seats, 17 are held by Republicans in districts that voted for President Joe Biden in 2020, compared to just five Democrats who must defend their seats in districts carried by former President Donald Trump. That means there are just enough vulnerable GOP-held seats to keep things competitive heading into the next election cycle.