EDINBURG, Texas – Daniela Martinez isn’t really into politics. In fact, when it comes down to voting, it just “depends.”
“I vote for whoever offers the best proposal, especially education,” said Martinez, a third-grade teacher living in Edinburg.
But as she was rushing into Bert Ogden Arena on Oct. 17 with moments to spare before Bobby Pulido, a Grammy-nominated superstar musician-turned-congressional-candidate, was set to perform at “La Ultima Desvelada” – what he’s dubbing his final concert – she knew she was going to vote come Nov. 3.
And it’s “definitely” going to be for Pulido.
Pulido, a two-time Latin Grammy-winning artist in Tejano, a style that fuses American and Mexican music, is locked in a tight race in Texas’ competitive 15th Congressional
District against incumbent Rep. Monica De La Cruz. De La Cruz was the first Republican ever elected in that district, flipping Democrats’ century-long stronghold in 2022.
From Hidalgo County, a mostly Mexican American community nestled along the Rio Grande River that divides the United States and Mexico, the district is a long and narrow area stretching north towards the western suburbs of San Antonio.
Many residents of the Rio Grande Valley, a scorching-hot floodplain in the southern tip of Texas, are blue-collar workers – from servers at local taquerias to call center representatives. Others are teachers or Border Patrol agents. In Hidalgo County, only about 20% of people have a bachelor’s degree or higher.
The Tejano-singer-turned-politician went viral earlier this year after he began performing at quinceañeras, a right of passage for many Hispanic girls once they turn 15, after De La Cruz, his opponent who had never served in public office before being elected in 2022, said the race “isn’t about who you want performing at your niece’s quinceañera.”
While hosting typical rallies and candidate meet-and-greets, Pulido has also stopped by at 82 quinceañeras, as well as appearing at weddings, graduation parties and families' carne asadas and plate fundraisers, according to the Pulido campaign. Plate fundraisers are a common event in South Texas that usually consists of residents buying to-go boxes of chicken, rice and beans, to raise money for families in need.
But Pulido, 53, has also faced several controversies – including criticisms for past crude social media posts about women, and derogatory posts that have included homophobic and racial slurs. One of Pulido’s former bandmates, accordion player Frankie Caballero, was convicted as a child sex offender in 2014, and later performed with Pulido several times between 2018 and 2021 after he was convicted. Pulido has said he did not know about the charges and has since cut ties with the bandmate.
“South Texans have a choice between Monica De La Cruz, a working mom fighting for their families, and a corrupt celebrity who will make their lives more expensive and used his family’s political power to put a pedophile around their children because he likes how he plays the accordion,” James Shook, De La Cruz’s campaign manager, said in a statement.
Many of the counties in the district, which is 81% Hispanic, also went for President Donald Trump in 2024. Trump won 55% of Latino voters in the state, a 13-percentage-point increase from 2020, a record high for a Republican presidential candidate, and a 27-percentage-point increase over 2016, according to data from the Texas Politics Project.
Trump directed the Texas legislature to swipe five congressional seats from Democrats, redrawing heavily Latino areas after they went for Trump and Republicans in the 2024 election. Trump would have carried the redrawn district by roughly 18 percentage points in 2024.
But polling has shown a statewide shift among Latino voters from Republicans to Democrats this year. And in the 15th district, a similar trend is playing out. A year ago, De La Cruz had a slight edge over Pulido, 41%-38%, according to a September 2025 poll released by House Majority PAC, a Democratic super PAC. Pulido had a double digit lead over De La Cruz, 54%-41%, according to a September poll from the same group.
Pulido in a June interview with USA TODAY said that De La Cruz “rode the Trump wave to victory.”
“That’s it,” he said. “She’s never done a town hall. I’ve never seen her do a podcast interview, ever. She’s not somebody that can go and defend her positions. She refuses to do that.”
De La Cruz, 51, voted for Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill," which cut taxes and slashed spending on Medicaid and food stamps, and is projected to add trillions of dollars to the national debt.
Instead, Pulido said the people in the Rio Grande Valley “just want the right kind of Democrat.”
When asked what that means, he said: “It’s somebody that still wants to respect the conservative values that we have but then also embraces the Democratic parts that we have – helping each other out and helping people.”
Martinez wouldn’t disclose who she voted for in the last election cycle, saying she has the right to reserve her privacy. But she knew that in this election, she wanted to vote for a candidate who knows the Rio Grande Valley the way she does.
“I like the fact that we have somebody that represents here – South Texas,” Martinez said of Pulido, who grew up in Edinburg. Decked out in a black cowboy hat and matching boots, one that mirrored Pulido’s own concert attire, Martinez said she’s been a longtime fan of his music, and supports his decision to turn to politics.
“I’m excited for him and I hope, you know, the turnout for him is positive,” she said just days before early voting began on Oct. 19.
Pulido’s star power
It was a Texas-sized homecoming.
A wave of Pulido supporters on horseback overtook Frontage Road near Bert Ogden Arena on Oct. 17, riding up to a pre-concert tailgate to galvanize fans before Pulido's event that was set to mark an end to his 31-year music career. A local Tejano singer, Lucky Joe, helped warm up attendees' dancing feet. A giant sign was lit up with the phrase “Puro 956” – or "Pure 956" – a saying that is often said in the Rio Grande Valley referencing its area code.
Pulido, a native of Edinburg, where his final concert was being held, followed his father Roberto Pulido into the music industry. Roberto Pulido helped develop the style of Tejano music that is now played at most events in South Texas, from graduations to fundraisers and fairs. At the Tejano Walk of Fame in Edinburg, there is a statue of the elder Pulido.
Outside the arena, fans began snaking around the entrance hours before the concert was set to begin. For some, it looked like a political rally with attendees decked out in Pulido’s campaign shirts. But for many others, it looked like a typical night out at a concert as a sea of cowboy hats and fringe overtook the arena.
Lacho Garza, Jr., and his sister, Anna Garza, don’t believe that this will be the last time they see Pulido perform. When you love something, and are good at it, you can’t just walk away easily, they said.
But they are eager to see Pulido head to the marble halls of Congress.
“I think he’s gonna do good for the people, our people,” Lacho Garza, of Edinburg, said. “And I say our people, the people from the Valley,” he added, referencing the Rio Grande Valley area.
He especially is going to focus on rising concerns about high prices like beef and gas, and immigration, Anna Garza added. Both of those issues were at the top of the list among Latino voters in Texas, according to a poll released in October by Equis Research. The poll showed that 40% of registered Latino voters in Texas said that the economy was their top issue, followed by immigration and deportations at 15%.
“We’re just facing, like, really difficult times, and we have to get, you know, people that are level-headed, are willing to work, like he says ‘I’m not red … I’m you. I’m team you,” Garza said as mariachi music filled the halls ahead of Pulido’s performance.
‘Team You’
Throughout his campaign, Pulido, a moderate Democrat, has tried to appeal to voters beyond party lines. He often says he doesn’t care if a voter is a Republican or Democrat and that “I'm not Team Red. I'm not Team Blue. I’m Team You,” a line he repeated at his Oct. 17 concert.
Pulido has advocated for more liberal policies, like calling for corporate money to be removed from elections, while also opposing restrictions on fracking, as many Rio Grande Valley residents work on oil rigs. He’s called for a secure border while also criticizing Trump’s aggressive interior deportation tacitcs.
Wearing a brown leather button-down shirt and black leather pants, with stitches up the sides of the legs, a black cowboy hat and black cowboy boots, Pulido spent nearly two hours of his concert playing many of his hits from his first single “No Sé Por Qué," to serenading his four sons on stage with “Llegaste A Mi Vida,” to finishing with his hit, “Desvelado.”
Before he performed that final song, he made one final pitch to his fans, urging them to go vote.
“To me, public service is pretty simple. It's looking somebody in the eye and saying, ‘I got your back,’” Pulido said. “It's fighting for our values, our way of life, and doing what's right, even when it's hard.”
“I want to give something back to the place that's given me so much, and if you give me the honor of representing you in Congress, I give you my word tonight that I will never forget where I came,” Pulido said. “Because I'm not going to Washington to serve a political party. I'm going to serve you.”
Pulido ‘has no stance,’ GOP voters say
While Pulido has tried to cast himself as a candidate beyond party lines, some Republican voters in South Texas aren’t buying it.
Yolanda Gonzalez, 74, said she’s been “very happy” with De La Cruz’s job in Congress, saying that she likes that the congresswoman voted for “no tax on tips,” a policy that was part of Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” the massive tax package that was passed last year. While Gonzalez, who lives in McAllen, which is part of De La Cruz’s district, said she doesn’t keep up with everything the congresswoman does, she will still vote for her in the election.
“The things that she has done, I've been very happy with her,” Gonzalez said.
But Gonzalez said she doesn’t know much about Pulido, only that he is a musician and that he’s been stopping by quinceañeras for free.
“Pulido has not come out and said what he's going to do for the community in any which way,” she said. “He has no stance.”
Throughout his campaign, Pulido has been critical of the Trump administration’s widespread crackdown on illegal immigration that has led to massive raids, which Pulido has said is harming the local economy in South Texas as many construction projects have stalled due to workers being detained or afraid to go to work.
Over the summer, Pulido also advocated for the release of award-winning student mariachi players, Antonio, Caleb, and Joshua Gámez-Cuéllar, after they were detained by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, along with their parents. The detainment caused widespread outrage throughout the Rio Grande Valley, causing protests to get the McAllen family out. De La Cruz took steps to secure the family’s release.
The brothers performed at Pulido’s final concert to thousands of fans.
Tammy Leal, a longtime Republican voter who lives in McAllen, said that while Pulido is “very popular,” he just “doesn't have the experience as far as I'm concerned.”
Before running for Congress − first unsuccessfully in 2020, then winning in 2022 − De La Cruz, who was raised in Brownsville, the southernmost city in Texas, owned and operated an insurance agency.
“Monica is still the lady that I would vote for,” Leal, 67, said. “This woman has worked very, very tirelessly hard, and I've seen it.”
But Lacho Garza argues Pulido's focus on the community, rather than partisan talking points, could enable him to unseat the congresswoman.
“I think he’s more focused on people than parties,” he said. “That’s very rare among politicians nowadays. They always stay with parties. Because of that, they don’t get anything accomplished.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bobby Pulido, a Tejano star, is trying to flip a South Texas seat
