GOLIAD, Texas — Standing on a stage draped with patriotic bunting in this red pocket of the Lone Star State, Bobby Pulido prodded the audience of several hundred to look past the “D” next to his name.

Pulido, a Tejano singer who has two Latin Grammy Awards and broad name recognition across South Texas, is the Democratic nominee for a majority-Hispanic House district that has shifted dramatically toward Republicans in recent election cycles.

To succeed, he must redefine the Democratic brand and reassure voters who are fed up with Republicans in Washington but remain wary of the alternative.

“You don’t have to belong to one tribe or the other,’’ he told the crowd on a recent Saturday in this historic town about 90 miles southeast of San Antonio. 

Pulido’s run against second-term Republican Rep. Monica De La Cruz in the redrawn 15th District will also test whether a Democratic moderate with a populist bent — and a sprinkle of celebrity stardust — can overcome the political math of redistricting. 

Republicans in Austin, at President Donald Trump’s direction, redrew Texas’ congressional map last year to bolster the GOP’s chances of maintaining its House majority. The 15th District now reaches from rural ranching counties east of San Antonio to the U.S.-Mexico border and would have backed Trump by 18 points in 2024, according to calculations by Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales.

But like several other Texas seats that shifted red under the new map, the district was built on the premise that the Hispanic voters who backed Trump two years ago will line up behind Republicans in the midterm elections, an assumption that might already be out of date. 

Across the nation, Trump’s poll numbers have sunk to historic lows, driven down by spiking prices brought on by tariffs and an unpopular war with Iran. Among Hispanic voters in Texas, his job approval rating stands at 33 percent, according to a recent poll conducted for the Cook Political Report and TelevisaUnivision. And voters in the 15th District and two neighboring Hispanic-heavy seats favored Democrats over Republicans on the generic ballot by 14 points, the survey found. 

“Latinos, as a group, are … increasingly performance-focused,’’ said Joshua Blank, the research director for the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin. And they appear “significantly likely to punish incumbents for what they see as a continuingly poor economy.” 

Inside Elections recently shifted the 15th District race rating to Tilt Republican, a category before Toss-up territory. 

A battleground race

Both parties view the race as central to determining who will hold the House majority next year: Democrats need a net gain of three seats to flip the chamber.

The increased competitiveness is reflected in the money pouring in: Pulido has drawn financial support from several outside groups, including PACs affiliated with the centrist Blue Dog Coalition and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

Meanwhile, No Going Back PAC Inc. — a new super PAC tied to MAGA Inc., Trump’s fundraising juggernaut — has entered with over $1.2 million in spending against Pulido.  

De Le Cruz has sought to puncture Pulido’s moderate image. In a statement, campaign manager James Shook called the Democrat “a corrupt liberal creep” who “thinks common-sense border laws are ‘racist’ and says child molesters like his friend are ‘unfairly demonized.'” 

Shook was referring to a former member of Pulido’s band, who was convicted of indecent sexual contact with a child. The two toured together for years. (A spokesman for Pulido’s campaign told The Texas Tribune that Pulido didn’t learn about the man’s sex offender status until it was reported by the New York Post in April.)

Trump on Friday reaffirmed his support for De La Cruz and attacked Pulido as “a radical left loser.”

For her part, De La Cruz has walked a careful line in relation to the president. 

At this month’s GOP midterm convention in Dallas, she touted Trump’s record, saying, “We ended the border crisis, we cut your taxes, and we turned a socialist nightmare back into the American Dream.” 

But in a signal that Trump’s immigration crackdown is facing a backlash in the Rio Grande Valley, De La Cruz debuted an ad last week highlighting her efforts to get a man released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.

Making his case

Pulido’s pitch to voters in Goliad — a town of 1,700 that was a key site during the Texas Revolution — included a defense against modern-day caricatures of Democratic politicians. 

“I love God. I love my country,’’ he said. “And I love our rural way of life.”

 But Mona Foster heard little to veer her away from voting Republican. 

“I’m a Bible girl,” the 52-year-old said while strolling the open air market that sets up monthly on the county courthouse lawn. “My big thing is abortion. And I’m not into all the trans crap and guys in girls sports.”

As for Pulido, “he seems like a good guy, but I stand by my values and my morals.’’ 

Two years ago, Trump swept Goliad County, which was added to the 15th District to shore up the GOP, with nearly 80 percent of the vote. But even here, some detect hints of change.

“Everybody fills up their car with gas or their truck with diesel. Trump said he was going to drop prices on Day One, but everything he said he was going to do, he didn’t do,’’ said Susie Clapsaddle, 76, who has served as Goliad County’s Democratic chair off and on since 2010.

“I do see some hope now.” But, she quickly added, “I’m in Texas, and I’ve had my hopes dashed so many times.”

At the rally a few hours later, Pulido sketched out his biography and emphasized his South Texas roots. He got the political bug as a teenager when he attended Boys State, a leadership program designed to promote public service. 

Pulido was in college, studying political science and planning to attend law school, when he performed a duet with his father, Tejano music trailblazer Roberto Pulido. It was a hit; politics would have to wait.

In 2022, Pulido was volunteering for Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez’s campaign when De La Cruz flipped the 15th District, a seat drawn to elect a Republican but one that Democrats had held for decades. “I was not happy about that,’’ he recalled.

He launched his campaign a year ago. When De La Cruz said in a March video that the election was not a decision about “who you want performing at your niece’s quinceañera,” Pulido spotted an opportunity. He began booking quinceañeras, milestone 15th birthday celebrations, drawing positive news coverage and reinforcing his connection to Hispanic traditions.

Fame opens doors, acknowledged his campaign manager, Abel Prado, “then Bobby does a great job of closing.” 

And in the waning weeks of the campaign, that closing message is focused on economics. The 15th District is one of the state’s poorest, and Pulido is taking aim at powerful interests that he says are aligned against the district’s working-class voters, from data center developers to beef importers who are hurting cattle ranchers.

“Rural folk have entrusted the Republican Party and [have] gotten screwed over,’’ he said. “We’ve been sold out. This is not a red or blue issue. This is about right or wrong.”

In an interview before the rally, Pulido pondered the state of partisanship in South Texas. “We’re at a time right now that people are very disillusioned with both parties,’’ he said. 

As for the “D” after his name, he noted that De La Cruz carries an “R” at the end of her name: “I think that’s a liability too.”