Republican Cassy Garcia Running in Conservative Latino Texas District

Laredo, Texas — The Laredo stop on the Take Back America Bus Tour takes place in the parking lot of the local Border Patrol union headquarters, on a stage set in front of a campaign bus — emblazoned with Take Back Our Country in bold white font — and two large American-flag placards. It’s a bilingual affair — Pastor Rafael Cruz, father of Senator Ted Cruz, moves seamlessly between English and Spanish in the warm-up act for the main event — and an almost exclusively Latino crowd. Despite the friendly atmosphere, I’m clearly out of place here, not just because I don’t have a clue what’s being said in the Spanish sections of the stump speeches, but also because — dressed in a button-down, khakis, and beaten-up white sneakers — it’s obvious I’m not from here. As I walk into the National Border Patrol Council lot, just in time to catch the back end of an amateur rendition of the national anthem, more than a few cowboy-hatted Texans in the crowd turn to direct inquisitive glances in my direction. Later in the night, I’m told that I was initially flagged by aides as a left-wing agitator. (They’re relieved to hear that I’m just an Oregonian.)

Cassy Garcia, the rally’s main act — and the Republican hopeful in Texas’ 28th congressional district — takes the stage after warm-up acts from Pastor Cruz, Representative Chip Roy (R., Texas), and Hector Garza, the vice president of the National Border Patrol Council. Garcia is followed by Senator Cruz himself (clearly a crowd favorite — the line to take pictures with Cruz after his speech includes almost every attendee at the rally). Speakers deliver relatively standard Republican stump speeches: open borders and inflation are destroying our country; Joe Biden is an incompetent disaster; the Democrats are in thrall to left-wing radicalism, with one notable difference: Almost everything that’s said here is framed in terms of the perspective and interests of Latinos. That’s only logical, given that Laredo — a city of 260,000, perched at the southernmost edge of Texas — is more than 95 percent Hispanic, as is the surrounding Webb County where Laredo is located. Its neighboring counties along the Rio Grande Valley all have similarly monolithic Hispanic populations. A report last month rated Laredo the fourth-least ethnically diverse city in America.

About the Author

Nate Hochman

Nate Hochman was a staff writer at National Review.

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Laredo, Texas — The Laredo stop on the Take Back America Bus Tour takes place in the parking lot of the local Border Patrol union headquarters, on a stage set in front of a campaign bus — emblazoned with Take Back Our Country in bold white font — and two large American-flag placards. It’s a bilingual affair — Pastor Rafael Cruz, father of Senator Ted Cruz, moves seamlessly between English and Spanish in the warm-up act for the main event — and an almost exclusively Latino crowd. Despite the friendly atmosphere, I’m clearly out of place here, not just because I don’t have a clue what’s being said in the Spanish sections of the stump speeches, but also because — dressed in a button-down, khakis, and beaten-up white sneakers — it’s obvious I’m not from here. As I walk into the National Border Patrol Council lot, just in time to catch the back end of an amateur rendition of the national anthem, more than a few cowboy-hatted Texans in the crowd turn to direct inquisitive glances in my direction. Later in the night, I’m told that I was initially flagged by aides as a left-wing agitator. (They’re relieved to hear that I’m just an Oregonian.)

Cassy Garcia, the rally’s main act — and the Republican hopeful in Texas’ 28th congressional district — takes the stage after warm-up acts from Pastor Cruz, Representative Chip Roy (R., Texas), and Hector Garza, the vice president of the National Border Patrol Council. Garcia is followed by Senator Cruz himself (clearly a crowd favorite — the line to take pictures with Cruz after his speech includes almost every attendee at the rally). Speakers deliver relatively standard Republican stump speeches: open borders and inflation are destroying our country; Joe Biden is an incompetent disaster; the Democrats are in thrall to left-wing radicalism, with one notable difference: Almost everything that’s said here is framed in terms of the perspective and interests of Latinos. That’s only logical, given that Laredo — a city of 260,000, perched at the southernmost edge of Texas — is more than 95 percent Hispanic, as is the surrounding Webb County where Laredo is located. Its neighboring counties along the Rio Grande Valley all have similarly monolithic Hispanic populations. A report last month rated Laredo the fourth-least ethnically diverse city in America.