Former Republican Rep. Mayra Flores, the first Mexico-born member of Congress, is set to launch a bid to unseat an embattled Democratic lawmaker in the next midterm elections.
Concretely, Flores will look to challenge Henry Cuellar in Texas' 28th district, Fox News reported on Tuesday. She told the outlet she would focus on telling the "Spanish-speaking community" about the "amazing work President Trump is doing."
"And that's something that I feel I'm obligated to do, because there is a lot of misinformation being spread from the left, and they're trying to instill fear and hate in the Hispanic community," she added.
Flores served in Congress for about six months after winning the special election in Texas' 34th district to replace Filemon Vela Jr, flipping the seat red. She then lost her re-election bid to Vicente Gonzalez by a narrow margin, less than 3% percentage points. She will now target Cuellar, considered one of the most vulnerable Democrats in the next election
Cuellar won his election by less than 6 percentage points last November, but his standing has been impacted by a federal investigation against him. He was indicted last year on federal conspiracy and bribery charges. The indictment, announced by the U.S. Department of Justice in May, accuses Cuellar and his wife, Imelda, of accepting nearly $600,000 in bribes from entities linked to Azerbaijan and Mexico.
Prosecutors allege that between 2014 and 2021 Cuellar and his wife accepted payments from an Azerbaijani energy company and a Mexican bank. In return, Cuellar allegedly used his congressional position to promote the interests of these foreign-controlled entities in the United States.
Cuellar allegedly agreed to influence legislation favorable to the former Soviet republic and deliver a friendly speech on the House floor in exchange for the payments. He was at one point the co-chair of the Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus and also traveled to the country in 2013.
Three different people have already taken plea deals in the context of the case, admitting to helping the Cuellars in the bribery schemes.
Despite these allegations, Cuellar has consistently denied any wrongdoing, publicly asserting his innocence after the charges were filed.
In another passage of her dialogue with Fox News, Flores addressed the charges against the lawmaker, saying that "being a member is a position where you can help so many people, and you are able to represent an entire district. And yet he threw it all away. And no amount of money is worth you doing that to your country." She went on to express optimism about her chances of winning, saying Cuellar's is a "seat that can be flipped in 2026."
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