Congresswoman Monica De La Cruz says there’s a “Great Awakening” happening among Hispanic voters and it’s changing the political landscape of South Texas and beyond.
De La Cruz, who represents Texas’s 15th District, made history as the first Hispanic Republican woman to serve a full term in the state’s congressional delegation. She credits her success to the hard work and shifting priorities of Latino voters who, she says, are increasingly aligning with the Republican Party’s message of “faith, freedom, and familia.”
“Latinos are hardworking people,” she said. “We want the opportunity for greatness, for the American dream, not equality of outcome, but equal opportunity.”
The congresswoman described her own journey as a reflection of that dream. Raised in a humble South Texas family (her grandfather was a Mexican farmworker who served in the U.S. Navy) De La Cruz built a small insurance business before running for office. “I never thought about politics,” she said, “but I saw the shift happening, hardworking, blue-collar Hispanics moving toward the Republican Party because they want opportunity, not government dependency.”
That shift was on full display when De La Cruz delivered the Spanish-language response to President Biden’s final State of the Union address in 2024. She called it an emotional moment, one that brought “South Texas to the national stage.” The message: Hispanics are not a monolithic voting bloc, nor are they uniformly liberal.
“We’ve seen what socialism and communism do to countries and families,” she said. “We don’t want any part of that. If America falls, where do families like ours go?”
De La Cruz has focused on expanding economic opportunities and strengthening border security. She praised the “Working Families Tax Cuts Act,” saying it stopped “the largest tax hike in U.S. history” and protected overtime pay, Social Security, and tips from new taxes, policies she says directly benefit working-class families.
She also touted her “Bracero 2.0” proposal, which aims to modernize the historic guest-worker program to provide stable wages for immigrants while ensuring a reliable labor force for American farmers. “Food security is national security,” she said.
As more Latinos engage politically, De La Cruz believes the momentum will continue. “They’re seeing practical, common-sense leadership,” she said. “They’re seeing results in their communities. And in the next election, they’re going to say, ‘I want more of that.’”
