May 7, 2026, 5:28 p.m.
House Republicans aren’t looking to reinvent the formula that gave them the majority the last two cycles, but they are looking to capitalize on a voting bloc with whom they’ve only recently made inroads.
GOP strategists made a concerted effort to recruit Hispanic men in four key districts where they've come up short in recent elections, in races that could prove pivotal in losing or holding the House majority.
Last cycle, Republicans ran an eclectic group of candidates in Texas’ 28th and 34th districts, as well as New Mexico’s 2nd District and California’s 13th District. They lost all four, even as President Trump made historic gains in these Latino-majority seats.
This year they’re trying something different.
Following GOP gains and a corruption scandal for Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar in Texas’ 28th, the GOP put more resources into the seat. They scored Webb County Executive Tano Tijerina, a Democrat-turned-Republican, to take on Cuellar.
Like Tijerina, the other new recruits in these four districts are Hispanic and male. Three out of the four are young, and three out of the four served in the military. One served in law enforcement. All of them have Trump's public support. As the GOP hones its message on border security and public safety, the candidates' backgrounds could prove crucial in these majority-minority battleground districts.
FILE - Supporters await Donald Trump's arrival at a campaign event in Tucson, Arizona, in September 2024.
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Young Latinos were a critical part of Trump’s success in places like South Texas and the Central Valley of California. Former Vice President Kamala Harris’ support tanked in the Rio Grande Valley, even as other Democrats ran stronger races down the ballot. Part of that could be attributed to gender, according to operatives on the ground.
“I think you have a lot of old-school Hispanic thought of that machismo,” Hidalgo County Democratic Party Chair Richard Gonzales told National Journal in October. “That's just an antiquated school of thought, but it's still very prevalent down here.”
As culture wars have stoked the political divide for the last few years, Republicans have leaned in on certain social issues. Led by the Trump campaign, gender-related attacks dominated the airwaves in 2024, mostly focusing on transgender student athletes and gender-affirming care. The party has also leaned into certain online male trends—podcasters in the "manosphere" have spent hours promoting what they consider masculine ways of thinking, while the administration has publicly endorsed a health-and-fitness ethos, something traditionally seen as masculine-coded.
“I think fundamentally, you know, Republicans and Hispanics don't view masculinity as toxic,” Republican Kevin Lincoln told National Journal. Lincoln is set for a matchup with Rep. Adam Gray in California’s Central Valley. The seat has been among the closest contests the last two election cycles.
Beyond the role gender plays, these candidates have backgrounds that help them connect to voters—and donors.
Eric Flores, a veteran and former federal prosecutor, is heralded by many in Washington as the GOP’s top House recruit this cycle. He’s challenging Rep. Vicente Gonzalez in a Rio Grande Valley district.
Flores told National Journal that both his Catholic faith and service in uniform have honed his leadership skills.
“We don't want somebody who only possesses ideas," Flores said. "We want somebody that has experiences.”
Flores is expected to garner significant outside support in his matchup with Gonzalez. CLF reserved nearly $12 million in ad buys in the district for the fall. The other targeted districts, too, are likely to see air cover. The GOP super PAC Congressional Leadership Fund’s reservations, including Spanish-language advertising, total nearly $27 million in the four seats.
Eric Flores speaks ahead of President Trump at the Port of Corpus Christi on Feb. 27. (AP Photo/Michael Gonzalez)
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Not everyone wants to call the 2024 Hispanic gains a coalition, though.
GOP strategist Mike Madrid, a longtime communicator on Latino issues, calls the phenomenon a “realignment.”
“The Republicans were winning voters despite themselves, not because of themselves,” said Madrid of the 2024 gains. “This was a rejection of the incumbent party, which is precisely why they're going to lose these voters.”
Still, the shot-callers in D.C. don’t see it that way. They say they are bullish on their candidates’ abilities to connect to the district.
Greg Cunningham represents a shift in strategy in New Mexico’s 2nd District, a sprawling seat from the South Valley of Albuquerque across the southern part of the state. Former Rep. Yvette Herrell had run in the previous four elections, winning once in 2020.
“We are conservative people, [as are] the values that we represent,” Cunningham told National Journal. “We're huge with our families—that's a very, very important part of our culture, and passing things on and taking care of our family, the culture around us, our land.”
But background is unlikely to be the great equalizer. National opinion polls have consistently shown the Hispanic vote souring on this administration over concerns related to immigration overreach and the economy. Democrats are hoping to ride a potential wave and win these seats.
Presidential approval ratings are often a rough tide to overcome for the party in power, but Republicans insist they’ve got the issues on their side.
“Over the past decade, Hispanic voters have been steadily moving toward Republicans," Christian Martinez, national Hispanic press secretary for the National Republican Congressional Committee, told National Journal in a statement. "This coalition didn’t happen by accident. It’s being built by candidates like Kevin Lincoln, Eric Flores, Tano Tijerina, and Greg Cunningham, a new generation focused on delivering economic opportunity, public safety, and the American Dream.
“That’s how Republicans are earning the trust of Hispanic communities, and how we will expand and keep the House,” Martinez said.
