Mónica De La Cruz (born November 11, 1974) is an American politician and insurance agent from the state of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. She has represented in the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

since 2023. De La Cruz is the first

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

to represent Texas's 15th congressional district since its creation in 1903.

Early life and career

De La Cruz graduated from James Pace Early College High School in

Brownsville, Texas Brownsville () is a city in Cameron County in the U.S. state of Texas. It is on the western Gulf Coast in South Texas, adjacent to the border with Matamoros, Mexico. The city covers , and has a population of 186,738 as of the 2020 census. It ...

, and the

University of Texas at San Antonio The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) is a public research university in San Antonio, Texas. With over 34,000 students across its four campuses spanning 758 acres, UTSA is the largest university in San Antonio and the eighth-largest by ...

, studying

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

. She later attended the

National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

, studying Spanish. She interned for

Turner Entertainment Turner Entertainment Company is an American multimedia company founded by Ted Turner in 1986. Purchased by Time Warner in 1996 as part of its acquisition of Turner Broadcasting System (TBS), the company was largely responsible for overseeing th ...

before working for

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...

Latin America. She is an insurance agent and business owner and resides in the

Rio Grande Valley The Lower Rio Grande Valley ( es, Valle del Río Grande), commonly known as the Rio Grande Valley or locally as the Valley or RGV, is a region spanning the border of Texas and Mexico located in a floodplain of the Rio Grande near its mouth. The ...

, where she grew up.

U.S House of Representatives

Elections

2020

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

, De La Cruz ran in , and lost to incumbent Democrat Vicente Gonzalez by three percentage points.

2022

Endorsed by

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

and House Minority Leader

Kevin McCarthy Kevin Owen McCarthy (born January 26, 1965) is an American politician, serving as Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives, House Minority Leader in the United States House of Representatives since 2019. A member of the Rep ...

, De La Cruz ran again in the 15th district in

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

, while Gonzalez was redistricted to . De La Cruz defeated Democratic nominee Michelle Vallejo in the general election. 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 Mayra Nohemi Flores (born January 1, 1986) is an American politician who represented in the United States House of Representatives from 2022 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party, she is the first female Mexican-born member of the House ...

, 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.

Caucus memberships

Republican Main Street Partnership The Republican Main Street Partnership is a 501(c)(4) organization that was allied with the congressional Republican Main Street Caucus. The Partnership continues to exist, while the Caucus was dissolved by its members in February 2019. Hist ...

Committee assignment

Committee on Financial Services The United States House Committee on Financial Services, also referred to as the House Banking Committee and previously known as the Committee on Banking and Currency, is the committee of the United States House of Representatives that oversees t ...

Personal life

De La Cruz has been married twice and has two children. Her husband, Juan Gabriel Hernandez, filed for divorce in Hidalgo County District Court in 2021. He sought a

restraining order A restraining order or protective order, is an order used by a court to protect a person in a situation involving alleged domestic violence, child abuse, assault, harassment, stalking, or sexual assault. Restraining and personal protection or ...

against De La Cruz, alleging that she was physically and verbally abusive to her stepdaughter through divorce proceedings. De La Cruz denied the allegations. De La Cruz is an

Episcopalian Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the l ...

References

External links

Congresswoman Monica De La Cruz
official U.S. House website
Monica De La Cruz for Congress
campaign website * * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:De La Cruz, Monica 1974 births Living people Texas Republicans Insurance agents Businesspeople from Texas University of Texas at San Antonio alumni Protestants from Texas Christians from Texas Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas Hispanic and Latino American members of the United States Congress Hispanic and Latino American people in Texas politics Hispanic and Latino American women in politics American politicians of Mexican descent Female members of the United States House of Representatives Women in Texas politics Latino conservatism in the United States American Episcopalians Episcopalians from Texas