Republicans are targeting Texas’ newly drawn 35th Congressional District after redistricting shifted it in a more Republican direction.

The district includes much of the south and northeast sides of San Antonio, along with parts of Bexar, Guadalupe, Wilson, and Karnes counties.

Incumbent Democrat Greg Casar has been moved out of the district following redistricting, leaving the seat open. Casar is running in the neighboring 37th Congressional District.

Residents of the 35th District will choose between Republican Carlos De La Cruz, an Air Force veteran and brother of Rep. Monica De La Cruz, R-Texas, and Democrat Johnny Garcia, a public information officer for Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar.

De La Cruz has focused his campaign on border security, saying he is the “only candidate who has been deployed to the southern border.” His plans include strengthening border security by funding immigration enforcement and increasing border infrastructure, technology, and personnel.

He also has emphasized supporting parental rights, law enforcement, and veterans, barring transgender women from competing in women’s sports, and supporting a ban on members of Congress from trading individual stocks.

De La Cruz has been endorsed by President Donald Trump, Republican U.S. Rep. Brandon Gill, and the National Border Patrol Council. 

His Democrat challenger, Garcia, has branded himself as an “old-school” or “law-and-order” Democrat, who has said that “[former President Joe] Biden failed us on the border.” His border security plan includes a pathway to citizenship and a work visa based on economic needs. His campaign also says he believes Immigration and Customs Enforcement should focus on criminals. 

Garcia has also advocated for strengthening the Affordable Care Act, an Obama-era law that has been riddled with problems, including fraud and skyrocketing premiums. 

Garcia’s other plans, if elected to Congress, include opposing large data-center developments and supporting restrictions on members of Congress trading individual stocks. 

Before the congressional redistricting, the 35th district leaned heavily Democrat, with Casar winning 67% of the vote in the 2024 congressional race. Under the new boundaries, Trump would have carried the district with 54.6% of the vote in the 2024 presidential election. 

A poll conducted Aug. 27-31 by Normington Petts and sponsored by the House Majority PAC found De La Cruz and Garcia effectively tied among 500 likely voters. De La Cruz received 45% support, while Garcia received 44%. The poll had a reported margin of error of 4.4 percentage points. 

De La Cruz and Garcia did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication. 

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. 

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—A new Senate report highlights startling amounts of health care fraud, including a payment of almost $1 billion in taxpayer dollars to Russian fraudsters and hundreds of millions to others.

The report, which points to some of the most egregious cases out of a total of more than half a trillion in fraud, highlights more than $21 billion in bogus claims billed to the federal government. Of that, more than $3.1 billion in taxpayer money was actually paid out to these fraudsters.

“While some Americans will be fortunate enough to earn a few million dollars over a lifetime, Washington is literally making these scammers instant billionaires off the backs of the working class,” the report says. “Yet, you never hear socialists ranting about this unfair redistribution of wealth.”

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, chairwoman of the Senate DOGE Caucus, shared the report with the Daily Signal.

“Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders famously stated, ‘billionaires shouldn’t exist,’ and wants to tax them away, while government grift and graft is making billionaires out of riffraff,” the report says. “In fact, the $500 billion the Democrats’ proposed ‘billionaire tax’ would bring in isn’t even enough to pay the total cost of the $523 billion the government gives away to fraudsters every year.”

The report notes that fraudsters are getting away with more than $1.4 billion per day, citing a 2024 Government Accountability Office study.

“While Iowans are juggling rising health care costs, billion-dollar bandits are building criminal empires by stealing from government health care programs and using the proceeds to bankroll their mansions, luxury cars, and lavish lifestyles. Democrat socialists push higher taxes and socialized medicine, while turning a blind eye to the billions in fraud,” Ernst told the Daily Signal in a statement. “I’m calling out their twisted agenda that leave taxpayers footing the bill. Let’s put these scammers in the slammer and pass my Protecting American Taxpayers Act.”

The report says that more than $100 billion is “bilked every year from Medicare and Medicaid.” It says more than $100 billion in fraudulent unemployment insurance benefits was paid to scammers over three years, between 2020 and 2023, while $1 billion is ripped off annually from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps.

The report references what the Justice Department called “Operation Gold Rush,” a fraud case that involved 11 individuals charged with being members of a transnational criminal organization based in Russia that allegedly orchestrated a multibillion-dollar health care fraud. They submitted requests for reimbursement to Medicare for over $10.6 billion using the stolen identities of thousands of doctors and more than a million senior citizens, and managed to get $941 million.

The report also cites Herbert Kimble, charged with billing Medicare more than $1.2 billion for body braces pushed on hundreds of thousands of seniors by foreign call centers. Of that billing, more than $200 million was paid. Kimble was arrested in the Philippines days after making the FBI’s “Most Wanted Fraudster” list.

“When the socialists demand, ‘Medicare for All,’ apparently, they really mean it, even if that includes Russian mobsters and the FBI’s Most Wanted Fraudsters,” the report says.

The report identified Brett Blackman, CEO of a health care software company, who was convicted for billing federal programs over $1 billion for unneeded equipment, with more than $450 million paid. He was convicted in May.

Alexandra Gehrke and Jeffrey King were convicted of submitting $1 billion in fraudulent claims to Medicare; TRICARE, a health care program for U.S. service members; and CHAMPVA, a health care program for spouses and children of permanently disabled veterans, and other health care programs for unnecessary wound grafts. About $615 million of the bogus claims were paid.

Brian Rowan, a wound care sales executive, is charged in connection with a $1.2 billion scheme in which about $614 million was paid.

Fears about artificial intelligence (AI) and its possible threats to humanity are not “fake news” and should be taken seriously, Pope Leo XIV insisted Monday, adding safety issues raised by AI experts should be discussed and acted on.

The post Watch: Pope Leo Insists Artificial Intelligence Safety Fears Not ‘Fake News’ appeared first on Breitbart.

The Spanish central government's representative in Ceuta announced his surprise resignation Monday, citing an alleged "unfair pressure" campaign against him from angry locals and their "hurtful words" as the mass migrant invasion of the exclave reaches its second month.

The post Spanish Govt. Representative in Ceuta Resigns Crying ‘Unfair Pressure’ from Angry Locals appeared first on Breitbart.

Three news outlets President Donald Trump stripped of White House credentials were back before a federal court Monday night seeking to temporarily restore their access until the case is resolved.

The post CNN, MS NOW and Politico Seek Court Intervention to Block Trump from Stripping White House Credentials appeared first on Breitbart.