Gabby Birenbaum, Texas Tribune

WASHINGTON — South Texas Democratic congressional candidate Bobby Pulido performed with a bandmate who is a registered sex offender convicted of indecent contact with an 8 year old girl, drawing renewed scrutiny from his Republican opponent.

Pulido is challenging Rep. Monica De La Cruz in Texas’ 15th Congressional District, a majority-Hispanic district which runs from McAllen to rural counties east of San Antonio and voted for President Donald Trump by 18 percentage points. He is a well-known Tejano singer who first rose to fame in the 1990s and whose candidacy has excited Democrats in South Texas and Washington alike.

Pulido’s association with accordion player Frankie Caballero was first reported by the New York Post.

Caballero has played accordion onstage with Pulido numerous times, according to the New York Post report — including after his 2014 conviction.

In a statement, Pulido’s campaign manager said the singer was not aware of Caballero’s criminal history.

“Bobby extends his deepest sympathies and support to all of the victims involved,” Pulido campaign manager Abel Prado said in a statement. “Frankie Caballero has long struggled with addiction issues and Bobby Pulido has acknowledged and attempted to help him with that battle.”

Prado said when Pulido’s management learned of Caballero’s criminal history in 2021, he was immediately fired and that relationship was severed.

“Bobby was never made aware of Caballero’s sex offender registration and would never knowingly associate with anyone with that kind of history,” he said.

Prado also said that the hiring of Caballero was done by Pulido’s management company, which did not conduct a background check, in accordance with industry standards.

Republicans, including De La Cruz, have jumped on the report saying this is just the latest piece of evidence that Pulido is morally corrupt.

"My heart goes out to the children who were sexually abused by a close friend and professional associate of Bobby Pulido,” De La Cruz said in a statement. “Despite being caught on tape admitting he knew of this man's criminality and praising him as recently as November, Mr. Pulido now falsely claims to have been unaware of his crimes. These are not South Texas values.”

Pulido said in a November interview with the Houston Chronicle about his music that Caballero, who played on the recording of his 1995 hit “Desvelado,” was a "prolific accordion player” who ended up on the song after the keyboard player who was supposed to be on the track missed the session.

Christian Martinez, a spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee, called Pulido “misogynistic.”

“Bobby Pulido’s pattern is clear: bad judgment, worse excuses, and zero accountability,” Martinez said. “Texans deserve someone who can be trusted to protect their families, not someone who spent years sharing the stage with a band of pedophiles and now wants Texans to believe he had no idea."

Pulido has leaned into his music fame and status as a political outsider on the campaign trail, including to withstand attacks related to his musical career. Republicans have jumped on his past social media posts — which include sexist comments and links to pornographic websites — as well as a music video in which he portrays a pervert, as evidence that the Democratic candidate is depraved.

The singer, for his part, has said that the music video is a parody satirizing Latin artist Elvis Crespo. And in a video posted to X on March 22, he called Republican attacks “cheap” and said that much of his Spanish language humor does not translate to English, which “shows just how out of touch they are with our culture.”

“I’ve been in the music business for 30 years and never had a scandal — and I’m proud of that,” Pulido said. “Needless to say, they’re very worried about losing this seat.”

Redistricting changed the boundaries of the 15th Congressional District, but it retained similar partisanship. De La Cruz won the seat by 14% in 2024, but Democrats are bullish about Pulido’s ability to bring Hispanic voters back into the Democratic column. A poll conducted by a Democratic group of the race last fall found Pulido trailing De La Cruz by 3%.

This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.

The Democratic primary for U.S. Senate is closing with a fierce debate that has animated it from the start: Who would Republicans rather face in November?

The leading candidates, U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Dallas and state Rep. James Talarico of Austin, have each pitched voters on the idea that they are a better bet for November. Crockett has vowed to turn out new voters to finally flip the state, while Talarico has advocated a broader strategy that includes reaching out to Republicans.

Some Republicans have signaled they would rather face Crockett — and Talarico’s side wants voters to know it.

A pro-Talarico super PAC is running ads online in the final days of Tuesday’s primary warning that Republicans are “boosting” Crockett and “spending thousands of dollars to make sure that Jasmine Crockett gets elected.” The ads link to a report about how a conservative group has sent out texts highlighting Crockett’s hard line against ICE and how Gov. Greg Abbott has featured her prominently in ads.

Crockett has scoffed at the GOP meddling narrative, questioning why Republicans would be so clear about a preference, and has urged Democrats to tune out the GOP messaging.

“They love to kind of stir us up and have us decide to play off their rhetoric,” she told CNN last week, drawing a parallel to Republicans who egged on Democrats in the 2024 election to abandon President Joe Biden. “Democrats need to focus on the prize.”

Talarico has denounced the GOP interference in the Democratic primary.

“I would tell every Republican elected official to stay out of our business and stay out of our primary,” Talarico told a Dallas TV reporter last week when asked about Abbott’s ads featuring Crockett.

The back and forth over GOP meddling gets at a broader debate in the primary about who is better positioned to win a Senate election for Texas Democrats for the first time since 1988. The party is optimistic given the national political environment and the potential that Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has a history of scandals, could emerge as the GOP nominee as he takes on longtime incumbent John Cornyn.

Cornyn has called Crockett’s candidacy a “gift” and warned that Talarico could be “dangerous” as his party’s nominee.

Paxton said Monday he does not have a preference between Crockett and Talarico. “They’re both so liberal,” Paxton told Dallas radio host Mark Davis.

Independent polling has painted an inconclusive picture about which Democratic candidate would be more competitive in November. A University of Houston survey in late January tested an array of potential general election matchups between Crockett or Talarico and GOP candidates — and showed no one had a decisive advantage.

A Crockett campaign spokesperson, in response to this story, made the case that the candidate’s “durability” — as shown by favorability ratings in multiple polls — amid the meddling shows she has what it takes to win in November.

“Part of electability is being able to weather the storm,” the spokesperson, Karrol Rimal said, adding that Republicans “who underestimate her do so at their own peril.”

Republicans have signaled in some cases that they clearly see a more compelling foil in Crockett, who has been aggressive in her criticism of President Donald Trump — who won the state by 14 percentage points in 2024 — and has criticized the increasingly crucial voting bloc of Hispanic voters who have drifted toward Trump. Crockett previously downplayed the need to convert Trump’s supporters, saying that was “not our goal,” though she has since voiced confidence in her ability to win over independents and moderate Republicans.

Playing in the other side’s competitive primary is a well-worn campaign tactic, and one some Republicans have undertaken to boost Crockett, whom many believe would be the easier matchup in a general election.

American Sovereignty, a conservative group, has sent texts to voters calling Crockett “ICE’s worst nightmare” and linked to a debate clip in which she calls to “clean house” at the Department of Homeland Security. Funding for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and debates over whether to dismantle the organization in the wake of two killings of American citizens in Minneapolis, has been a key motivator for Democrats this year.

And long before Crockett jumped into the race, the National Republican Senatorial Committee — which has made no secret of its belief that Crockett would be a weak general election candidate — put out polling showing her leading the Democratic field as far back as July.

The White House has also joined the fray, with Trump’s deputy chief of staff, James Blair, posting on social media that Republicans “should be very concerned about Jasmine Crockett’s surge” and calling her “a real threat.” He disputed that his message was intended as a way of boosting Crockett to the nomination, saying, “We don’t want that. She can win in Texas.”

The GOP campaign to effectively prop up Crockett has fueled some of the more tense moments in the primary. After a pro-Talarico group, Lone Star Rising, released an ad citing the apparent GOP preference for Crockett — telling Democrats, “If she wins, we lose” — Crockett accused the group of darkening her skin and called the line of attack “straight-up racist.”

Other Republicans have used Crockett for a more traditional tactic: as a villain to motivate Republicans who don’t like her to turn out this primary season. Several GOP candidates have included Crockett in ads depicting high-profile Democratic figures as chief antagonists, grouping her alongside self-described democratic socialists.

Abbott is facing little competition in his primary, but he’s put Crockett in at least two ads that ran throughout early voting, backed by millions of dollars. In congressional Republican primaries, Crockett can be found in ads across the state from candidates who are not running against her but are banking on their voters being motivated to turn out against her.

Tom Sell, in the West Texas-based 19th Congressional District, included Crockett’s image while describing “woke liberal extremists” alongside New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. A group backing GOP candidate Alex Mealer in a Houston-area district depicted Crockett alongside Vice President Kamala Harris as the narrator promises Mealer will “crush the woke left.”

Crockett has even come up in state legislative races. State Rep. Marc LaHood has run a TV ad against his primary challenger, David McArthur, claiming McArthur’s “big insurance backers have spent $6 million electing radical Democrats” — and then names Crockett as the sole example.

In the CNN interview, Crockett cast some doubt on the idea that Republicans want to run against her, saying, “I don’t know who [telegraphs] who it is that they want to go against.”

“Right now the governor of Texas is spending over $3 million specifically against me, running ads, so it doesn’t sound like they want to go against me,” she said.

However, she added that the GOP is “very good at throwing bombs” and pointed to the 2024 presidential election as an example.

“They did the exact same thing when they decided to tell all the Democrats that, Oh, Joe Biden is old, and, oh, he is senile, so therefore you guys need to get rid of Joe Biden,” Crockett said. “And so, what did we do? We went ahead and got rid of Joe Biden, and at the end of the day, what did they do? They elected an old, senile conman instead.”

Disclosure: University of Houston has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio, blamed his GOP opponent Brandon Herrera for politicizing the death of his former staffer Wednesday, a day after the San Antonio Express-News reported on a text message from the woman admitting to having an affair with Gonzales.

Gonzales declined to answer questions about the alleged affair, but he has previously dismissed the allegations as untrue.

Regina Santos-Aviles, a Gonzales aide, died after setting herself on fire in her Uvalde home last year. The Express-News reported Tuesday that an ex-staffer in Gonzales’ office said Santos-Aviles had told him in 2024 she had had an affair with Gonzales, and provided a text message from Santos-Aviles in which she said she “had an affair with our boss.”

“Ms. Santos-Aviles was a kind soul who devoted her life to making the community a better place,” Gonzales said in a statement. “Her efforts led to improvements in school safety, healthcare, and rural water like never before. It’s shameful that Brandon Herrera is using a disgruntled former staffer to smear her memory and score political points, conveniently pushing this out the very day early voting started. I am not going to engage in these personal smears and instead will remain focused on helping President Trump secure the border and improve the lives of all Texans.”

The ex-Gonzales staffer told the Express-News he had not been paid or promised compensation by any of Gonzales’ primary opponents for coming forward, but had been in touch with Herrera about the affair. The ex-staffer is now working for Democrats in California, according to the Express-News.

In November, in an interview with Punchbowl News at the Texas Tribune Festival, Gonzales publicly addressed the affair rumor, which had been alleged without documentation in the Daily Mail and Current Revolt, for the first time. Gonzales said then that Santos-Aviles should be remembered for her community work and that the “rumors are completely untruthful.”

Gonzales, a Navy veteran who has represented the 23rd Congressional District since 2021, is married and has six children. He is facing a challenging primary race against gun rights activist Brandon Herrera, who came within 400 votes of beating the three-term congressman in a runoff election in 2024. He represents the 23rd Congressional District, the largest in the state, which runs along the southwestern border and includes a slice of San Antonio. President Donald Trump won the seat under its new boundaries by 15 percentage points in 2024, and Democrats have recently taken an increased interest in flipping it this November.

Former Rep. Quico Canseco and Marine Corps veteran Keith Barton are also running in the GOP primary.

Following the report, Herrera called on Gonzales to resign and accused him of both ethical misconduct and of potentially endangering Republican control of the seat. The affair, Herrera said, broke House ethics rules given that Santos-Aviles was a member of Gonzales’ staff and represented a breach of public trust given that Gonzales initially said the allegation was untruthful.

“Similar behavior in our military would lead to court-martial and dismissal from service, and we should not hold the political leaders who oversee our armed services to a lower standard than the one to which our fighting men and women are held,” Herrera said.

Politically, Herrera said nominating Gonzales is a “risk we as a part cannot afford to take.”

Those calls to resign were echoed by state Rep. Wes Virdell, R-Brady, whose state house district overlaps with Gonzales’ congressional district.

“If this is true, and it does appear credible, Tony should step down,” Virdell, who has endorsed Herrera, posted on X. “The family deserves to heal and get past this terrible tragedy. That will be impossible to do if they have to see the person who did it show no remorse for the situation and get re-elected to represent them in Congress.”

Jonathan Saenz, president of the conservative group Texas Values, said Gonzales should resign immediately if the affair report is true. And the San Antonio Express-News editorial board rescinded its endorsement of Gonzales.

Gonzales has the backing of some of the most powerful names in Republican politics, including Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana, and numerous law enforcement associations.

A White House spokesperson declined to comment. A spokesperson for Johnson did not immediately return a request for comment on the report.

The National Republican Congressional Committee, the House Republican campaign arm, has spent over $100,000 on joint ads with the Gonzales campaign, according to political ad tracking firm AdImpact.

The situation has some similarities to the 2022 Republican primary for the 3rd Congressional District, when GOP Rep. Van Taylor’s reelection campaign was upended in the final days by allegations of infidelity. Taylor failed to win the primary outright and dropped out of the race a day later, admitting to an extramarital affair and calling it the “greatest failure of my life.”

Taylor was succeeded in the safely Republican seat by the challenger who would have been his runoff opponent, former Collin County Judge Keith Self. Self continues to represent the district today.

This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.

Speaker Johnson defends Crenshaw after he was reportedly banned from congressional overseas travel

by Gabby Birenbaum, The Texas Tribune
November 24, 2025

WASHINGTON — Speaker Mike Johnson is defending U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Houston, in the wake of a report that his behavior on a congressional delegation trip to Mexico in August was inappropriate.

The dispute stems from an incident in which Crenshaw, a member of the House Intelligence Committee and the chair of a now-dissolved cartel task force, reportedly toasted a Mexican official who had made a crude joke that made a woman in the room uncomfortable, according to anonymous sources in Punchbowl News.

Following the trip, Punchbowl reported that House Intelligence Committee chair Rick Crawford, R-Arkansas, banned Crenshaw from taxpayer-funded travel outside the country for 90 days. Crawford saw that decision “as being authorized by the GOP leadership,” Punchbowl reported.

The outlet went on to report Monday that Central Intelligence Agency officials in Mexico City sent a cable to CIA headquarters in Langley raising concerns about Crenshaw’s behavior.

In a statement shared with The Texas Tribune, Johnson said he stands by Crenshaw and trusts his leadership on cartels.

“Dan Crenshaw has always been and still is our point man in Congress when it comes to addressing the threat of the drug cartels,” Johnson said. “His insights and expertise in these and other matters regarding intelligence and national security are invaluable. As a former Navy SEAL, he has earned his large platform. Despite recent media attacks by his political opponents, we know Dan, we stand by his record, and we have full confidence he will continue to deliver results.”

Crenshaw has disputed the merits of Punchbowl’s story, including that he was banned from traveling. He argued that the outlet’s portrayal of the incident was overblown, writing on X that the allegedly offensive toast happened in the middle of the day, at the end of a meeting with Mexican officials about dealing with cartels.

“Anyone shocked by guys in uniform making a crass joke over a toast has never spent more than five minutes around the military,” a Crenshaw spokesperson told Punchbowl. “The only story here is a pathetic political hit job.”

Punchbowl also reported that Crawford had tried to remove Crenshaw from his panel, but that Johnson allowed Crenshaw to retain his seat.

This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.