The D.C. cavalry is coming in for Eric Flores, a former U.S. attorney, to flip a South Texas congressional seat — and other candidates are moving out of the way.
With two recent departures, the GOP primary for Texas’ 34th Congressional District has effectively become a two-horse race between candidates who share the same last name: Eric Flores, who touts an endorsement from President Donald Trump, and former U.S. Rep. Mayra Flores, who previously represented the district and has since tried twice to reclaim the seat.
CD-34, which includes a slice of the Rio Grande Valley and moves up the Gulf Coast into Nueces County, is a battleground seat that was among the districts redrawn during last year’s mid-decade redistricting fight. The partisan leaning very slightly favors Republicans, and Trump won the district by 10 points in 2024.
This week, two other GOP candidates in the race — Fred Hinojosa and Scott Mandel — dropped their bids for the seat and endorsed Eric Flores. Hinojosa is the brother of state Sen. Adam Hinojosa (R-Corpus Christi), and Mandel had self-funding ability, loaning his campaign $1 million last year. Both departures are big news for Eric Flores, who still has a name recognition deficit compared to Mayra Flores, who briefly represented the district after winning a 2022 special election but has since lost two reelection bids, even with a Trump endorsement both times.
The coalescing around Eric Flores started after Trump’s endorsement, with backing from U.S. House leadership groups and figures, including U.S. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). Both the Congressional Leadership Fund and the National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC) are behind Eric Flores; he was present in a House GOP Conference meeting with the NRCC this week, as reported by Punchbowl News.
“As an Army veteran and former criminal prosecutor, Eric Flores is ready to fight to flip this seat red next November,” NRCC spokesman Reilly Richardson told Texas Bullpen on Wednesday. “Flores will help Republicans deliver secure borders, energy dominance, and a strong economy for South Texans.”
Originally, Mayra Flores decided to run this election cycle for the nearby CD-28 seat against U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX), who has held the seat there since 2005. But after redistricting made CD-34 more favorable to Republicans, Mayra Flores decided to again run for her old seat.
Texas Bullpen can confirm that Eric Flores was recruited by the White House and congressional leadership, long before the field map changes even materialized, according to one source close to House leadership. Republicans in D.C., according to this source, say they consider Eric Flores to be a better candidate for the November general election than Mayra Flores.
Mayra Flores underperformed Trump in the old district last year by 2 points and also underperformed three other Republicans on the statewide ticket. She did outperform U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) by 3 points.
D.C. operatives say they expect Mayra Flores to have the polling lead given her name ID in the area, but also expect Eric Flores to perform better in a runoff than in the primary, Texas Bullpen was told by the House leadership source. For her part, Mayra circulated a poll last year showing her way ahead of the field, well before the cavalry came in for her namesake opponent.
Scott Mandel, a former candidate for CD-34 now supporting Eric Flores, told Texas Bullpen that a recent poll from his campaign showed 43% undecided, Mandel in second place.
Mayra Flores did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
