Congressional Hispanic Caucus Blocks GOP Rep Mayra Flores’ Request To Join

Though Mayra Flores is the country’s first Mexican-born congresswoman, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus has rejected her request to become a member. 

“As the first Mexican-born American Congresswoman, I thought the Hispanic Caucus would be open in working together,” Flores tweeted on Wednesday.

“This denial once again proves a bias towards conservative Latinas that don’t fit their narrative or ideology.” 

The official website of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus gives no hint that it’s a Democrats-only club: “The CHC addresses national and international issues and crafts policies that impact the Hispanic community. The function of the Caucus is to serve as a forum for the Hispanic Members of Congress to coalesce around a collective legislative agenda.”

The group’s bylaws, however, explicitly bar Republicans from joining, a caucus spokesman told the Texas Tribune. He added, “Rep. Flores’ Extreme MAGA values and their attacks on Latinos and our nation’s democracy on January 6 do not align with CHC values.”

On Thursday, Flores tweeted “maybe I’m not the right type of taco.” In a July address to a so-called “Latinx” conference in San Antonio, Jill Biden famously compared Mexicans to breakfast tacos. After facing mockery and scorn, she issued an apology. 

My thoughts after the rejection by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, maybe I’m not the right type of taco.

— Mayra Flores (@MayraFlores2022) October 27, 2022

Though Flores across-the-aisle gesture was rebuffed, it should be noted that there’s a Republican-only version too: the Congressional Hispanic Conference. The now-Democrats-only Caucus used to be bipartisan, before a split in the 1970s over U.S. policy toward Cuba. 

Flores caused a national shockwave in June, by flipping a once-solid-blue and 84%-Hispanic district in South Texas, soundly beating her Democratic opponent 51% to 43%. She became the first Republican to represent that part of Texas since 1870 — over 150 years. Notably, one of her votes came from new Texan Elon Musk, in what he says was his first-ever vote for a Republican. 

Since that special election was only for the balance of the current term, Flores is now seeking re-election in a redrawn district that raises the hurdle for her demographically while also pitting her against another incumbent. Despite that, the Cook Political Report earlier this month switched the race from “Lean Democrat” to “Toss-Up.” 

Endorsed by Donald Trump, Flores has campaigned against gun control, abortion and lax border security. A recent poll found that, among Hispanics who know both Flores and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Flores has higher net favorability ratings.