Mayra Flores

Mayra Nohemi Flores (born January 1, 1986) is a Mexican-born American politician. She is a member of the Republican Party. She was a member of the United States House of Representatives for Texas's 34th congressional district from 2022 to 2023.

Mayra Flores
Mayra Flores.jpg
Portrait, 2022
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Texas's 34th district
In office
June 21, 2022 – January 3, 2023
Preceded byFilemon Vela Jr.
Succeeded byVicente Gonzalez
Personal details
Born (1986-01-01) January 1, 1986 (age 38)
Burgos, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Political partyRepublican
Children2
EducationTexas State Technical College, Harlingen (AA)
South Texas College (BS)

Political career

She won the special election to replace former Congressman Filemon Vela Jr.[1][2] She is the first Mexican-born woman to be a member of the United States Congress.[3]

Before her election to Congress, Flores used hashtags supporting the QAnon conspiracy theory on an Instagram post, though she has denied ever being a supporter of QAnon.[4]

Flores lost her campaign for a full term in the November 2022 midterm elections to Democrat Vicente Gonzalez in the district that was redrawn that year. She left office in January 2023.[5]

Personal life

Flores was born in Mexico to migrant farmworkers. Her family moved to the U.S. when she was six years old and she gained American citizenship at 14.[6] She was raised in Southern Texas.[7] Even though she was raised in a conservative Democrat immigrant family in Texas, she said she supports the Republican Party because of her anti-abortion views.[8]

Flores has worked as a respiratory therapist and lived in Los Indios, Texas.[9] She is married to a U.S. Border Patrol agent and has four children.[8]

Mayra Flores Media

References

  1. Svitek, Patrick (March 24, 2022). U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela's resignation announcement sparks a sudden special-election scramble in hotly contested South Texas. Texas Tribune. https://www.texastribune.org/2022/03/24/south-texas-congressional-special-election/. Retrieved March 24, 2022. 
  2. Harris, Cayla; Bureau, Austin (April 11, 2022). "Texas Republican Mayra Flores gets a boost in quest to be first U.S. congresswoman born in Mexico". San Antonio Express-News. https://www.expressnews.com/news/legislature/article/Texas-Republican-Mayra-Flores-gets-a-boost-in-17063044.php. Retrieved May 30, 2022. 
  3. Svitek, Patrick. Republicans flip U.S. House seat in South Texas, historically a Democratic stronghold Archived June 15, 2022, at the Wayback Machine, Texas Tribune, June 14, 2022.
  4. Harris, Cayla (2022-04-07). "Texas Republican Mayra Flores gets a boost in quest to be first U.S. congresswoman born in Mexico". San Antonio Express-News. Archived from the original on May 31, 2022. Retrieved 2022-06-16.
  5. Gamboa, Suzanne (8 November 2022). "Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez defeats GOP candidate Mayra Flores in TX". NBC News. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
  6. Manchester, Julia (June 15, 2022). "Republican Mayra Flores flips House seat in Texas special election". The Hill. Archived from the original on June 17, 2022. Retrieved 2022-06-16.
  7. Harris, Cayla. What to know about Texas Republican Mayra Flores, the first congresswoman-elect born in Mexico Archived June 17, 2022, at the Wayback Machine, San Antonio Express-News, June 15, 2022.
  8. 8.0 8.1 Medina, Jennifer (March 1, 2022). "How Immigration Politics Drives Some Hispanic Voters to the G.O.P. in Texas". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/28/us/politics/border-grievance-politics.html. Retrieved May 30, 2022. 
  9. Shabad, Rebecca. "Republican Mayra Flores flips House seat in Texas special election". NBC News. Archived from the original on June 15, 2022. Retrieved June 16, 2022.

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