Why Mayra Flores' win in South Texas spells trouble for Democrats everywhere

It’s bad enough that Democrats did nothing to dodge Republican Mayra Flores’ blow in South Texas. It’s even worse to think they’ve given up altogether.

Flores easily won a special election on Tuesday to replace Democratic Rep. Filemon Vela in Texas’ 34th District after he resigned to work for a lobbying firm.

She’ll serve the remainder of Vela’s term and thus will have to face another Democrat in November in a newly redrawn district that may be more favorable to Democrats.

This is where Democrats blew it. They chose to spend almost nothing to retain the seat, essentially handing Republicans a powerful poster child.

Flores' story is sure to resonate with Latinos

Flores is how headed to Washington as the first Mexican-born congresswoman. She’s married to a U.S. border patrol agent and, as the Texas Tribune put it, also “dabbled in QAnon conspiracy-mongering.”

And now she has a huge megaphone to tout her story, which is sure to resonate with Trump Republicans and conservative Latinos who, like her, favor abortion restrictions and feel taken for granted.

“This win is for the people who were ignored for so long!” Flores said on Twitter after defeating Democrat Dan Sanchez. “This is a message that the establishment will no longer be tolerated! We have officially started the red wave!!”

She’s onto something – at least about the fact that the Democratic establishment is dropping the ball defending congressional seats and wistfully ignoring Latinos to their detriment.

Democrats are making a similar mistake in Arizona by largely ignoring Latinos, who make up a third of the state’s population.

A Democratic super PAC in May spent $1.5 million in Spanish-language ads to help Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, who’s facing a tough reelection in November. And Chicanos por la Causa launched a $10 million voter registration effort.

Those are good efforts but not enough. Neither the Democratic Party here or in Washington has rolled out any significant investment to help local candidates and get Latinos out to the polls in the August primary.

GOP spent heavily. Democrats must do the same

The lesson from Texas is simple, and which has been repeated ad nauseam. Fight to win. Spend a lot of money to reach Latinos, just like other voters, instead of just throwing them the crumbs or ignoring them until the last minute.

Republican operative Michael McAdams is right that the “political earthquake in South Texas didn’t happen overnight.”

By all accounts, Republicans carried out a well-financed campaign to flip the district – even if temporarily – to give Flores momentum toward the November election.

Flores and her GOP friends spent more than $1 million on TV ads, compared to Democrats’ $215,000 (half of which was spent at the last minute), according to various media reports.

Big spenders here: Money is pouring into the Arizona governor election

The national Democrats’ strategy here is mind boggling. They ignored appeals from local Democrats who pleaded with them to spend money in the district.

Apparently, the Democrats believe they have a better shot at winning in November in a new district and with another Democrats.

Why did Democratic strategists think that giving Flores the power of incumbency in a Hispanic-majority district held by Democrats “for centuries” would actually help them defeat her later?

That’s one hell of a strategy that Democrats must nix immediately – otherwise, they can start packing up their congressional offices.

Elvia Díaz is the editorial page editor at The Republic and azcentral. Reach her at 602-444-8606 or elvia.diaz@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Twitter, @elviadiaz1. 

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Mayra Flores' win in Texas is trouble for Democrats everywhere