In this Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021, photo Republican congressional candidate Mayra Flores attends a Cameron County Conservatives event in Harlingen, Texas. Flores argues that Democrats are forcing Texans choose between their energy sector jobs and curbing climate change. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
OAN NEWSROOM
UPDATED 9:19 AM PT – Wednesday, June 22 2022
GOP representatives welcomed newly elected Texas Republican Mayra Flores with open arms. In a ceremony held on Tuesday, Flores was sworn in with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) making the historical announcement.
Flores made history by becoming the first Mexican-born woman to hold a seat in Congress. This came one week after she won a special election with over 51 percent of the vote for Texas’s 34th District, which predominantly leaned Democrat up until her historic victory.
“Nothing’s greater than the American story, nothing is greater than Myra Flores’s story,” said McCarthy. “It’s not just that she was born in Mexico. It’s not just what she was able to achieve, but think about the seat in which she won. It is a seat that the Republican Party has not had in more than 100 years of the Rio Grande Valley.”
Join me in welcoming the newest Republican to Congress—along with her Border Patrol husband and four kids—Mayra Flores! pic.twitter.com/i78byyUKTS
— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) June 22, 2022
Flores, who is the daughter of a GOP organizer, had the following message for Democrat politicians.
“I was born in Burgos, Tamaulipas, Mexico, raised with strong values to always put God and family first, ” she stated. “My father, Saul Flores, moved us to the United States because of the promise of America, he told me. In this country, if you work hard, you can accomplish anything. My story proves he is right. But right now, our people are struggling. They are taken for granted. That ends now.”
She believes her story can inspire others to achieve the American dream despite the current rhetoric surrounding so-called white privilege.
“I am a proud Border Patrol wife and a mother fighting for a better future for our children,” Flores continued. “I want to inspire every child that today is working in the fields — strawberry, onions, cotton field and you name it — I want you to know that you can become a congressman, a congresswoman if you work hard.”
Flores will fill the vacated seat until January, but is set to square off against Democrat Rep. Vicente Gonzalez in the general election in November.