Donald Trump will campaign in San Antonio’s new 35th Congressional District on Wednesday at the Freeman Coliseum, a move that puts the district at the center of the GOP’s Texas midterm strategy. The race has been called “the whole enchilada” for the 2026 election, and the redraw that created it has set both parties arguing over whether the district is safe ground or a swing seat waiting to flip.
The district was drawn to help Republicans squeeze another Republican seat out of Texas. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) called it “the whole enchilada,” and the stakes are high enough that national PACs are trying to influence who controls the U.S. House in 2026 through these races.
The Redraw That Created the District
The 35th District stretches from San Antonio eastward through Karnes, Wilson and Guadalupe counties, three areas Trump carried. It was drawn to replace the seat of progressive U.S. Rep. Greg Casar (D-Austin), whose district looped downtown San Antonio and Austin into a single deep-blue district.
Republicans broke up that seat, splitting it into smaller pieces. Casar moved over to run in a different district closer to his home in Austin, leaving the new 35th District open. The district would have supported Trump by more than 10 percentage points in 2024 under its new boundaries.
Each of the five redrawn districts would have supported Trump by 10 to 18 points in 2024. That margin suggests a district built to hold its Republican candidate. But the GOP’s confidence may be premature.
Who Is On the Ballot
The GOP nominee for the district is Carlos De La Cruz, who will appear with Trump at the event. De La Cruz is the brother of U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R-Edinburg).
Democrats nominated longtime Bexar County Sheriff’s Deputy Johnny Garcia. The absence of an incumbent helps explain why the district has become a focus for outside money: with no sitting representative to defend, the race becomes a pure test of party strength.
What Maggie Haberman Says About the Race
Maggie Haberman, the New York Times White House correspondent, sized it up this month, saying Republicans “may have — depending on what election night looks like in a few weeks — inadvertently created a bunch of swing districts.”
She noted that Trump has many smart strategists who understand Texas, but “there’s what they want to do, and what they can control in terms of what Trump wants.” Her point is that the president’s people may have designed a district they cannot fully control.
If the Texas gamble goes south, Haberman added, “that means the loss will be the president’s alone to bear.” That observation is notable because it suggests the president has left himself no room to blame anyone else if the district flips.
Neither party considers the districts safely red given that Democrats across the country are polling about 8 points ahead on the generic ballot. That national context matters for Texas, because a wave could wash over even a district drawn to favor Republicans.
The Event at Freeman Coliseum
Doors open at 2:30 p.m. and the program begins at 4:30 p.m. at the Freeman Coliseum. Carlos De La Cruz will appear with Trump, and Ken Paxton, the GOP’s U.S. Senate nominee, is also expected to speak.
The event is near the 23rd Congressional District, where Republicans are backing Brandon Herrera, a social media star running to replace disgraced Republican Tony Gonzales. That pairing puts two races on display in the same area:
- The 35th for House control
- The 23rd for Senate control
The Risk Built Into the Redraw
The district was designed with Trump’s 2024 margins in mind, but those margins were based on the old map. The new map changes the mix of voters, and the redraw itself could have created a more competitive seat than intended.
Republicans broke up Casar’s district, which looped downtown San Antonio and Austin into a single deep-blue district. The new district starts in San Antonio and stretches east to include Karnes, Wilson and Guadalupe counties — three counties Trump carried.
The district’s 2024 performance was projected under its new boundaries. The redraw also replaced the deep-blue urban areas of Casar’s old district with more reliably red rural counties.
That shift is the whole enchilada for the GOP: a district that should win, but one that could lose if the national wave carries over.
What the District Means for the GOP
The 35th District is not a safe seat by any measure. It was drawn to favor Republicans, but the national Democratic advantage on the generic ballot means even a district that should hold its seat could flip.
The district’s 2024 performance was projected under its new boundaries. The redraw also replaced the deep-blue urban areas of Casar’s old district with more reliably red rural counties.
That shift is the whole enchilada for the GOP: a district that should win, but one that could lose if the national wave carries over. If the district flips, the loss will be the president’s alone to bear.
Source material: “Trump heads to San Antonio for race deemed the ‘whole enchilada’ in the 2026 midterms,” Houston Public Media.
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