Texas's 15th congressional district of the United States House of Representatives includes a thin section of the far south of the state of Texas. The district's current Representative is Republican Monica De La Cruz. Elected in 2022, De La Cruz is the first Republican and woman to represent the district.
Currently, the 15th congressional district composes of a narrow strip of land running from western Hidalgo County in the Rio Grande Valley northwards to eastern Guadalupe County, to the east of San Antonio. The district includes the entirety of Brooks, Jim Wells, Live Oak, Karnes, and Wilson counties between Hidalgo and Guadalupe counties.
The district has generally given its congressmen very long tenures in Washington; only eight people, seven Democrats and one Republican, have ever represented it. The district's best-known Representative was John Nance Garner, who represented the district from its creation in 1903 until 1933, and was Speaker of the House from 1931 to 1933. He ran with Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1932 and 1936 presidential campaigns, and was elected Vice President of the United States, serving from 1933 to 1941. The district was one of the first Latino-majority districts in the country, and has been represented by Latino congressmen since 1965.
Notably, this district narrowly voted more Republican in the House elections than the nation as a whole in 2020. Vincente Gonzalez won by 2.9 points while Democrats won the national vote by a combined 3.1 percentage points. It also voted more Republican than the national average while voting Democratic in the 2020 United States presidential election, and the difference between the national vote and the result was wider in the presidential election than the House. Due to redistricting, incumbent Gonzalez in the 2022 election ran in the 34th congressional district. The Republican nominee, former insurance agent Monica De La Cruz defeated the Democratic nominee, businesswoman Michelle Vallejo.
For the 118th and successive Congresses (based on redistricting following the 2020 census), the district contains all or portions of the following counties and communities:
Brooks County (5)
Guadalupe County (16)
Hidalgo County (34)
Jim Wells County (17)
Karnes County (4)
Live Oak County (2)
Wilson County (4)