Tejano singer Bobby Pulido’s South Texas congressional campaign has drawn the attention of the New York Times, which published a recent profile favorably comparing him to former President Barack Obama.
The Grammy-winning Pulido, a moderate Democrat, is running to represent Texas 15th Congressional District in hopes wresting the longtime blue stronghold back from recent Republican control.
“This is our Obama,” Victoria County Commissioner Danny Garcia told the Times of Pulido.“He is our hope. The Democrats have not had many chances in the past. We are Democrats, not progressives. He represents that.”
Garcia’s comments came during a recent Pulido political rally in the Valley. The paper described the congressional hopeful stepping onto the stage and singing his 1995 hit “Desvelado” before taking questions from attendees.
Pulido’s campaign is staking out a middle-of-the-road approach to lure South Texas Latinos back to the Democratic ticket. The district he’s vying to represent snakes from McAllen to the eastern fringes of Bexar County.
The 15th District slipped from Democrats’ grasp in 2022, when Republican Monica De La Cruz won after the area’s political map was drawn the prior year. Her win marked the first time the district had gone to the GOP in more than a century.
Pulido will face medical doctor Ada Cuellar in March’s Democratic primary. His subsequent fight against De La Cruz would prove an uphill battle if the Supreme Court upholds the district’s new boundaries, controversially redrawn this summer by the GOP-controlled Texas Legislature.
Although Latino voters helped carry President Trump to a second term, attitudes towards the White House’s harsh immigration policies and failed campaign promises appear to be drawing them back to the Dems.
Even so, Hidalgo Democratic Party Chairman Richard Gonzales told the Times that being blue in South Texas is different.
“We are conservative in nature, very family-based, culture-based,” Gonzales said. “We’re pro-Second Amendment, pro-oil and gas, but we still have Democratic values at our core.”
Pulido’s campaign appears to be walking that fine line with ease, focusing on issues including affordable healthcare and rising living costs, all while emphasizing that he’s against open borders but also opposes “people living in fear” due to overzealous enforcement.
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