Democrat Vicente Gonzalez wins reelection to Texas battleground seat

Rep. Vicente Gonzalez Jr. (D-TX) is projected to win reelection to a sixth term after defeating Republican challenger Eric Flores in Texas’s battleground 34th Congressional District.The Associated Press called the race for Gonzalez at 10:51 p.m. He had 56.6% to Flores’s 38.9% with 84% of the vote counted.The newly drawn district, which sits in the southernmost part of Texas and stretches from Corpus Christi to Harlingen, was among the seats that state Republicans redrew in their favor in hopes of flipping five Democratic-held districts. President Donald Trump would have won the new district by 10 points in 2024. Republican Texas congressional candidate Eric Flores, left, and Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX). (AP Photos) Republicans had high hopes for Flores, a U.S. Army veteran, former city attorney, and municipal judge, in the race against Gonzalez. The Democratic incumbent has been a perennial target of House Republicans, as Latino voters in Texas have shifted to the right during the Trump era.VANCE HEADS TO TEXAS TO BOOST BATTLEGROUND REPUBLICAN CANDIDATEThe district was among the swing seats that national Republicans, including Vice President JD Vance, traveled to in the final weeks of the campaign season in hopes of boosting party candidates.