- CD 34 Candidate Mayra Flores has boasted about her endorsement from Maggie’s List – a PAC that has received significant funding from Trump critic and leftist megadonor Melinda Gates
- Flores has been at the center of several recent controversies, resulting in one of her Republican opponents calling on her to drop out of the GOP primary due to “unethical behavior”
- Flores recently delivered remarks at an event alongside an activist who is currently under indictment on a felony charge of publishing intimate visual material
Despite attempting to position herself as a Trump loyalist, Congressional candidate Mayra Flores is touting an endorsement from a political action committee that has received significant funding from Melinda Gates – a vocal critic of President Trump and leftist megadonor.
Flores, who served briefly in Congress after winning a June 2022 special election, is one of several Republicans seeking to unseat Democrat Congressman Vicente Gonzalez in a South Texas district that now spans from Brownsville to Corpus Christi. Flores was the Republican nominee in the 2022 and 2024 general elections, but was defeated by Gonzalez in both elections.
On Wednesday, Flores boasted of her endorsement from the Maggie’s List PAC on her social media accounts.
“I’m honored to receive Maggie’s List endorsement for TX-34! Thank you for your support in helping elect conservative women who will fight for our values and strengthen our communities. Let’s win this together!” wrote Flores.
According to campaign finance records on file with the Federal Election Commission, Melinda Gates has donated $26,000 to Maggie’s List so far this year. Last July, Gates donated $919,600 to the Harris Victory Fund – a joint fundraising committee that assisted Kamala Harris’ Presidential campaign, the Democratic National Committee, and state Democrat Party organizations across the country, including the Texas Democratic Party.
In a June 2024 interview with CBS News, Gates expressed her strong opposition to President Trump.
“I cannot vote for a man who rolls back women’s reproductive rights and says the heinous things that he says about women. So I absolutely am not voting for Trump, and I will vote for Biden,” said Gates.
During her current Congressional campaign, Flores has been embroiled in a number of controversies – some of which involve men she has surrounded herself with who have been accused of inappropriate or criminal conduct towards other women.
On Thursday, one of Flores’ opponents in the Republican Primary for Congressional District 34 called on her to drop out of the race “due to unethical behavior unbecoming of a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives” related to her alleged relationship with embattled Florida Congressman Cory Mills.
“Our campaign has received information from an internal source within her circle that candidate Mayra Flores is in a long-standing relationship with married Congressman Cory Mills of Florida’s 7th Congressional District. Congressman Mills recently engaged in sextortion against [a victim] who was granted a restraining order against him.
Furthermore, Representative Mills personally called candidate Gregory Kunkle threatening to “get involved with the TX-34 Primary” if any further mention of his name was divulged along with Mayra’s,” said Gregory Kunkle, who is also seeking the Republican nomination for Congressional District 34.
Flores’ alleged relationship with Mills was also referenced in a recent article by journalist Roger Sollenberger about Mills’ scandals.
“Claiming to speak as the director of recruiting for the National Republican Congressional Committee—a title held by Rep. Brian Jack (R-GA)—Mills tried to bully GOP candidates out of both primary races that an alleged romantic interest, one-time Texas Rep. Mayra Flores, has entered this year, according to text messages and two people familiar with the threats,” reported Sollenberger.
As previously reported by The Texas Voice, Flores received a $2,500 campaign contribution from Restore America’s Voice PAC – a Leadership PAC sponsored by Mills – in September.
Also on Thursday, Flores appeared at a meet and greet event promoted by Joe Michael Perez, a Corpus Christi activist and vocal supporter of Flores’ campaign who is currently under indictment on a felony charge of publishing intimate visual material.
“The duly organized Grand Jury of Nueces County, Texas, presents in the District Court of Nueces County, Texas, that JOE MICHAEL PEREZ, defendant, on or about January 6, 2025, in Nueces County, Texas, with the intent to harm [victim], and without the effective consent of [victim], hereafter styled the complainant, disclose visual material, namely a photograph, depicting the complainant with her female nipple exposed, and, at the time of the disclosure of said visual material, the defendant knew or had reason to believe that the visual material was obtained by the defendant under circumstances in which the complainant had a reasonable expectation of privacy that the visual material would remain private, and the disclosure of the visual material caused harm to the complainant, namely embarrassing [victim], and the disclosure of the visual material revealed the identity of the complainant, namely the photograph depicted [victim’s] face,” reads the indictment against Perez, who has denied the allegations against him.
Flores stood alongside Perez as she delivered remarks to the event’s attendees, speaking in front of a backdrop that read “Re-Elect Congresswoman Mayra Flores For District 34.” Flores does not currently serve in Congress and was defeated by Democrat Congressman Vicente Gonzalez in the 2022 and 2024 general elections.
In October, Mayra Flores appeared on a podcast hosted by an admitted pimp with a lengthy criminal history. During that interview, she attacked Eric Flores – another one of her Republican Primary opponents – for his past work as a Federal prosecutor.
The controversies surrounding Mayra Flores, which also include using campaign funds to pay herself and members of her family and allegations that she used campaign funds to go to Disney World with two young family members, are among the concerns cited by some Republican voters in Congressional District 34 who believe that she would be a weak nominee against Congressman Gonzalez.
“If Mayra couldn’t beat Vicente in a red-wave presidential year, she’s sure not beating him in a low-turnout midterm — the numbers don’t lie,” wrote Susan Ruvalcaba, a conservative activist from Brownsville, in a Facebook post. “Mayra Flores had the best possible setup in 2024, with Trump’s momentum, a red-leaning environment, and historic GOP turnout in South Texas — and she still lost to Vicente Gonzalez.”
