Since the 2020 presidential election, it seems as if the only South Texas political news story you could find was about the gains Republicans are making with Latinos. The recent May runoff elections prove there is another insurgency against the status quo: the progressive fronterizo movement.
In Texas’ 15th Congressional District, certified results show progressive Michelle Vallejo won the Democratic nomination against moderate Ruben Ramirez by a margin of 30 votes. Ramirez has filed a petition for a recount. Vallejo was nominated to run by a community organization called LUPE Votes—the 501(c)(4) arm of La Unión del Pueblo Entero, which I work for—while Ramirez was backed by centrist Representative Vicente Gonzalez, who is leaving the district to run for a neighboring Brownsville-based seat.
In the 28th Congressional District, results show that Jessica Cisneros, a powerful progressive figure, came less than 1 percent away from ousting long-time conservative Democrat Henry Cuellar. Cisneros has also filed for a recount. And Rochelle Garza decisively became the first Latina to secure the Democratic nomination for Texas attorney general. Garza famously won reproductive rights for detained immigrant teens in court.
