How a Tejano Singer Found Himself at the Heart Of Democrats’ Path to a Midterm Majority

Bobby Pulido is in the middle of everything. 

The famed Tejano singer is trying his hand at politics in his home state of Texas, which is a crucial part of Democrats’ pathway to a potential House majority in Washington. And the blue wave that has made those lofty ambitions more and more realistic has been partially fueled by Latino voters’ shift away from President Donald Trump amid mounting anger with ICE and his mass deportation agenda. 

The House seat Pulido is running for is located along the U.S. border with Mexico and home to a population that is over 80% Hispanic, per 2024 Census data, putting him at the heart of all these conversations. And, as someone who has spent far more time hanging in Western concert halls with ranchers and campesinos than he has in Washington, Pulido has a uniquely direct way of weighing in.

“I mean, I can’t describe it any more than just a shitty relationship that this guy has made,” Pulido said of the president’s standing in his community during a conversation with TPM last week. 

That dynamic is part of why Pulido has been steadily gaining on his rival, Rep. Monica De La Cruz, a Republican incumbent who has Trump’s signature “Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election.” De La Cruz comfortably won the seat in 2024 and 2022, but her district boundaries were shifted slightly by the new map that Texas Republicans adopted and Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed into law last year. Republicans in the state redrew congressional district lines in an attempt to flip five House seats for the GOP. They were the first legislators to cave to Trump’s nationwide pressure campaign to gerrymander maps mid-cycle to help Republicans hold the House this fall. Their maneuvering significantly shifted the district lines away from the ones De La Cruz won inside of in 2024. Yet, in the current climate, in some red states like Texas, Trump’s gerrymandering blitz may not be enough to help him hold seats. And the latest numbers indicate the faceoff between Pulido and De La Cruz is one of those races where the new lines might not lead to a red result. 

Data shows that, with its current borders, the district would have backed Trump in the last election. While major election analysts initially predicted this year’s race also leaned Republican, the Cook Political Report moved it to a tossup last month along with 14 other seats that have shifted left amid mounting signs of a potential Democratic wave next month. De La Cruz was also captured on leaked audio that was recorded in May fretting about her tight internal polling against Pulido. 

Pulido sees ICE as a major part of the political landscape in the district, but he also believes the current campaign is “80%” about affordability.

“It’s definitely front and center and … right now people are really angry,” Pulido said. “I didn’t feel that way three or four months ago. I have definitely felt a shift. I saw it really, really happen huge with the diesel prices.”

Mounting fuel costs driven by the war against Iran that Trump launched along with Israel in February have been a major factor in the president’s plummeting poll numbers and the changing midterm forecasts. Pulido, who is rarely seen without a cowboy hat and drives what he describes as  “a big diesel truck with a lift kit,” explained that the situation is affecting both the “trucking industry” and other residents in the district. 

“We’ve got lots of big diesel trucks down here,” Pulido said, adding, “You have to understand, like, the majority of the people that voted for Trump and vote red are people out in the rural areas, right? They’re ranchers, they’re farmers, and right now, they’re not happy.”

Gas prices are just one reason affordability has become a primary concern for voters in this cycle. Inflation has risen sharply this past year as the costs of food and goods have gone up along with energy and fuel expenses. Along with the war, those spikes have been brought about by Trump’s tariffs.

Left-leaning progressives like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) have driven the discussion around costs of living. But, along with being in the middle of multiple phenomena defining this midterms cycle, Pulido says he is far closer to the center than the politicians who have dominated the affordability conversation. Pulido, who has described himself as a “blue dog Democrat,” believes more moderate voices have a place in this discourse. 

“For people to see change doesn’t mean that you’re going to give away free things. I mean, which, by the way, our president is promising right now, which is … you know, pretty ironic, right?” Pulido said, alluding to Trump’s promise of $5,000 checks with a laugh. “I think what we have to do and people want to see is us breaking up these systems that have made life more expensive for all of us.”

Overall, Pulido describes himself as “anti-corruption” and says he is eager to take on corporate power with reforms, particularly when it comes to campaign finance. 

“I’m a capitalist 100 percent. … I don’t describe myself and would never describe myself as a socialist. But, to be honest with you, like, insurance — big insurance — has too much power right now in our health care decisions. Doctors can’t even be doctors,” Pulido said. “We’re going to have to go fight that system. They have a lot of money, a lot of influence, but that’s unsustainable right now.  

“I’m a capitalist, I’m sure as hell not a crony capitalist. And right now, what we’re seeing is these guys are paying to play,” he added, “I think we need to end Citizens United and get the big money out of politics. The real change comes from that. We have to start with that. And I don’t think that’s a thing that goes against being a blue dog.”

Pulido also links the economic concerns in the  district he hopes to represent to ICE and Trump’s mass deportation push.

“The worst part about it is that, now, what we’re starting to realize is not only is it really anti-humanitarian, it’s economic,” Pulido said. “Our economy’s not doing well. There’s less money circulating in the economy, for sure. Small restaurants … are having trouble staying open. There’s a labor shortage when it comes to farming, ranching, and building. So, life hasn’t gotten better. On the contrary, Trump’s policies have made things worse.” 

Trump’s immigration crackdown has contributed to a shortage of skilled trade workers around the country and Texas is among the states with the highest demand. Pulido said there has been an especially outsized impact in the state’s border region where the economy has long depended on cross border traffic and where so many residents are Latino. As an example, he pointed to an incident from last month where a pair of teenagers who claimed they were en route to enlist in the Marines were violently detained by ICE in the city of Alamo. 

“They’ve pulled over lots of people just because they profiled them and a lot of them are Americans. …. Nobody likes that. They beat up some kids the other day that were on their way to go sign up for the Marines because they were taking pictures of them,” Pulido said of ICE, adding, “You know, they’re not popular. They’re probably as popular as syphilis.”

Recent polls have shown that a majority of Americans do not approve of ICE and think the agency has gone too far under Trump. However, Sen, Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), one of the few Democrats who won a major race during the 2024 cycle, notably split with Trump’s predecessor, President Joe Biden, and argued their party was not strong enough on border security. Both Gallego and his key advisers suggested security was a major concern for voters — including the Latino population — along the border. 

Pulido similarly believes in robust border security. And he also criticized the Biden administration for its handling of immigration. 

“The border was mishandled by the prior administration, that’s just a fact. They took way too long to sign an executive order, did it in year four,” recounted Pulido.

According to Pulido, this dichotomy allowed Trump to focus on “deficiencies on the other side, especially to distract from his own deficiencies,” as illegal border crossings surged.

“People down here felt like they never cared about what was going on,” Pulido said of the Biden administration. “People here are not anti-immigrant, but it was chaotic.”

Pulido believes the solution is reform. As an example, he pointed to bipartisan border security and immigration reform legislation that was introduced in 2024 before ultimately being shot down by Republicans and right leaning Democrats amid pressure from Trump, who had made the discord on the frontier a centerpiece of his presidential campaign. 

“You fix border security with policy. … In Biden’s last year, Senator James Lankford actually co-sponsored a bill. It was a pretty good bill,” Pulido said. “I didn’t like it because it didn’t go far enough for DACA protection for kids or people that had been here for a long time, but it was going to speed up this asylum process substantially with more immigration judges and a lot of good things. And the person that killed it was Donald Trump.”

Pulido’s desire for immigration reform is another area where he is clearly operating in the center. More left leaning Democrats have rallied around calls to “abolish ICE,” a position that has had strong support in some polls. Yet, rather than eliminating the agency entirely, Pulido wants to see its mission changed.

“Was ICE a problem under President Biden? It wasn’t right? ICE is a tool that is being used right now as a Gestapo to go get people. That’s it. Full stop,” Pulido said. “Before ICE existed, there was INS. Do I think we need an immigration force to really get the people that are bad out of here? Yes, I do. … Because, you know, guess what? There’s bad people in all walks of life.”

For Pulido, abolishing ICE isn’t a solution. He also suggested it takes the focus off the conduct of Trump and the officials operating under him. 

“You know, by just saying abolish ICE, you just demonize ICE and you take the pressure off of the administration,” said Pulido. “The administration needs to be held accountable for what they’re doing. That’s the problem.”

Pulido’s more moderate positions on ICE and the economy could serve as a blueprint for Democrats in traditionally red districts and along the border. But even as he points to his platform and heavy campaign calendar as reasons for his recent gains in the polls, Pulido acknowledged the larger climate seems to be turning against Trump and the GOP. 

“I think we were going to win this race from the moment that we got in, regardless of the wave. We didn’t run a campaign based on a wave. We ran a campaign based on convincing voters … a persuasion election,” Pulido said, before adding, “But I will tell you, I mean, ever since we started polling, we’ve been up, but that lead has increased and I think a lot of it has to do with environment. … The strongest polling is the latest polling.”

Pulido also offered credit for his performance to his rival, De La Cruz. In prior interviews, Pulido has claimed De La Cruz unintentionally gifted his campaign one of its most successful strategies. After she alluded to his pop star background by dismissing him as a performer more suited to appearing at a quinceañera (the Latino celebration for a girl’s fifteenth birthday) than Capitol Hill, Pulido jumped on the idea. He quickly rolled out a video where he suggested the congresswoman was mocking local traditions and asked voters to invite him to perform his hits at their celebrations. Since then, according to his campaign, Pulido received thousands of invitations leading to over eighty intimate performances around the district. In his conversation with TPM, Pulido also returned to De La Cruz’s comments as he accused her of not making enough appearances of her own — including on the debate stage. 

“Imagine that,” he said. “She called me a quinceañera singer and then refuses to debate a singer.”

For her part, De La Cruz has seemingly sought to distance herself somewhat from Trump and his immigration crackdown which has not, as he has repeatedly and falsely claimed, focused on deporting violent criminals. Earlier this year, a pair of teen mariachi musicians who had won a state award and been recognized by her office were detained by ICE along with their family, who had been seeking asylum. De La Cruz responded by saying the situation “breaks my heart” and noting that she had pressed for the Trump administration to focus on targeting criminals rather than “good, law-abiding, talented people who are working through the legal process.” The case became a flashpoint in the district and, when the family was released from detention in March, De La Cruz’s office issued a statement saying she had personally intervened and noting her support for “commonsense immigration measures” with “enforcement measures” that “prioritize threats to public safety.” 

Pulido said there’s an apparent contradiction since De La Cruz also voted for an increase in ICE funding. He believes that her shaky positioning on the issue has helped his candidacy.

“To our benefit, my opponent doesn’t scream authenticity. On the contrary, she screams fake. When you hear her talk, nobody believes the word she’s saying,” said Pulido, adding, “She wants to have it both ways, but it doesn’t work. I mean, she voted for two reconciliation packages to fund them all the way through Trump’s presidency. … People aren’t stupid.”

De La Cruz’s campaign manager, James Shook, responded to Pulido’s criticisms with a statement to TPM. In it, Shook suggested Pulido was neglecting to mention the many things that were included in the legislation De La Cruz supported to fund the Department of Homeland Security. 

“Monica has always said that South Texans expect enforcement to prioritize violent criminals, not families following the law. She’s proud to have helped hundreds of constituents, and she has been a leader on bipartisan legislation to fix our broken system,” Shook said. “Everyone understands that DHS funding bills pay for everything from Border Patrol to disaster relief, and that the executive, not Congress, dictates enforcement.” 

Shook also pointed to a figure from Pulido’s musical life whose own dark past has hung over the campaign. Frankie Caballero, a musician who toured as a member of Pulido’s band for years, had a lengthy criminal record including a 2014 conviction for committing “indecency with a child by contact.”. Even though Caballero was sentenced to four years in prison and forced to register as a sex offender, he reportedly went on to perform with Pulido including at a 2018 event in a middle school. 

“We’re not surprised that Bobby Pulido would have opposed a bill that included funding for child exploitation investigators who protect kids from predators like his close friend Frankie Caballero,” Shook said.

Pulido’s campaign has previously said he was unaware of Caballero’s status as a sex offender before it made headlines during this congressional race.  

While Pulido’s musical past may have led to a scandal, it has also been a clear asset in the race. His best known hit, 1995’s “Desvelado” — a ballad about the agony of unrequited love set against sweeping accordions and pulsing keys — is a Tejano classic with over 600 million streams on Spotify. That helped lay the foundation for Pulido’s quinceañera strategy. Yet, even though Pulido knows he is lucky to be a familiar face in the district, he is adamant that’s not the main reason for his growing momentum. 

“My name recognition was in music, so it doesn’t necessarily translate to politics. We did have to do a lot of campaigning, a lot of talking to voters, a lot of getting in front of people, doing podcasts, doing interviews, giving people the assurance that a vote for me is a vote for somebody that really knows what they’re talking about and is gonna go fight the good fight. And not only just fight the good fight, but make friends when you have to get things done,” Pulido said. “So, you know, has it helped? I’ll say this, it opened the door, but it doesn’t seal the deal. You have to seal the deal.”