Monica De La Cruz | |
---|---|
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 15th district | |
Assumed office January 3, 2023 | |
Preceded by | Vicente Gonzalez (redistricting) |
Personal details | |
Born | Brownsville, Texas, U.S. | November 11, 1974
Political party | Republican |
Spouse |
Johnny Hernandez
(m. 2015; div. 2021) |
Children | 2 |
Education | University of Texas, San Antonio (BBA) |
Website | House website |
Monica De La Cruz (born November 11, 1974)[1] is an American politician and insurance agent from the state of Texas. She has represented Texas's 15th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2023. De La Cruz is the first Republican and first woman to represent Texas's 15th congressional district since its creation in 1903.[2][3]
De La Cruz graduated from James Pace Early College High School in Brownsville, Texas, and the University of Texas at San Antonio, studying marketing.[4] She later attended the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City, studying Spanish. She interned for Turner Entertainment before working for Cartoon Network Latin America.[5] Before being elected to the U.S. Congress, she was an insurance agent and business owner. De La Cruz resides in the Rio Grande Valley, where she grew up.[6][7]
In 2020, De La Cruz ran in Texas's 15th congressional district, and lost to incumbent Democrat Vicente Gonzalez by three percentage points.[8]
Endorsed by Donald Trump and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, De La Cruz ran again in the 15th district in 2022, while Gonzalez was redistricted to Texas's 34th congressional district. De La Cruz defeated Democratic nominee Michelle Vallejo in the general election, earning 80,869 votes to Vallejo's 67,913.[9][10][11][7][12] When she took office in 2023, she became only the eighth person to represent this district since its creation in 1903, and the first Republican. By a matter of a few months, she was the second Republican elected from a Rio Grande Valley in over a century; the first, Mayra Flores, was elected to a partial term in a neighboring district in 2022. De la Cruz is the first Republican elected to a full term in this area in modern times.
In March 2024, De La Cruz delivered the Republican response to President Joe Biden's 2024 State of the Union Address in Spanish.[13]
De La Cruz voted to provide Israel with support following the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.[16][17]
De La Cruz has been married and divorced twice and has two children. De La Cruz's split from her second husband in 2021, Juan Gabriel Hernandez, resulted in an acrimonious divorce.[18][19] De La Cruz is an Episcopalian.[20]
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