HARLINGEN, Texas—Democrats called Republican Mayra Flores’s win in Texas Congressional District 34 this summer a fluke.
Democrats, who didn’t put a lot of resources into the special election that Flores won, have reasoned that the midterms would draw out more of the Democratic base in the heavily Hispanic district.
They were confident that Democrats would turn out to vote for Vicente Gonzalez, a party moderate who switched districts because the Republican-dominated Texas Legislature redrew the South Texas voter map, moving his McAllen home into District 34 from District 15.
But sentiment on the ground isn’t matching the Democrat’s prognosis….