Bobby Pulido Democratic win Texas Rio Grande Valley midterm election, Digi Mart USA News (Rio Grande Valley, Texas): Tejano music star Bobby Pulido recovered a U.S. House seat for the Democratic Party in the midterm elections held Tuesday, according to a BBC News Mundo report from Los Angeles.
He nearly doubled the votes received by Republican candidate Mónica Cruz in the 15th congressional district, which stretches from rural counties east of San Antonio to counties bordering Mexico.
The result reversed a shift among the district’s electorate, more than 80% Latino, toward the Republican Party that began during the pandemic and was consolidated by majority support for Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election. Voters in the region had already expressed dissatisfaction with the rising cost of living and the aggressive immigration policies of the federal government.
Pulido’s victory was part of a wider Democratic wave that gave the party control of both chambers of Congress and produced key Texas wins, including Gina Hinojosa as governor and James Talarico as senator. The Republican stronghold had not elected a Democrat to statewide office in more than three decades.
In his victory speech, Pulido said: “Tonight, you reminded the rest of this country of things that must not be forgotten. People deserve what they have.
You have to show it, you have to keep your word, and get up every time you fall down.” Pulido was one of the Democratic Party’s major bets for the midterms, which fall at the midpoint of a presidential term.
Pulido was born April 25, 1973, in Edinburg, a city about 26 kilometers from Mexico. He is the son of the legendary musician Roberto Pulido.
He studied political science for several years at a university in San Antonio before building his career in music, winning 12 awards, including two Latin Grammys for best Tejano album in 2022 and 2025.
In November 2024 he announced he would leave music to focus on politics. Running as a congressional candidate under the name Ranch Hall, he toured the region combining music, policy proposals and conversations about the needs of South Texas communities.
He addressed rallies in Spanish, a move analysts say brought him closer to voters, and he sang at quinceañera celebrations.
Álvaro J. Corral, a political scientist at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, told BBC Mundo that the victory shows celebrity can resonate with Latino voters, and that cultural references and Spanish-language outreach remain a strong mobilizer for Latino voters.
Pulido presented himself as a traditional candidate, saying in an interview with Politico that the traditional way Latino men were raised is disappearing and that this generates frustration. He focused his campaign on economic concerns, telling the BBC: “This is neither New York nor Los Angeles.” Polls showed the cost of living was a main concern for voters in the area.
According to Census Bureau data, 22.4% of families in the area live below the poverty line, compared with 10.6% nationally. The median family income there is US$79,721, while the national figure exceeds US$105,300, according to the most recent 2024 figures.
