Laura Cisneros
Laura Cisneros (Republican Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Texas' 34th Congressional District. She lost in the Republican primary on March 5, 2024.
Biography
Laura Cisneros was born and raised in Brownsville, Texas. Her career experience includes working as an oncologist.[1]
Elections
2024
See also: Texas' 34th Congressional District election, 2024
Texas' 34th Congressional District election, 2024 (March 5 Republican primary)
Texas' 34th Congressional District election, 2024 (March 5 Democratic primary)
General election
General election for U.S. House Texas District 34
Incumbent Vicente Gonzalez Jr. defeated Mayra Flores in the general election for U.S. House Texas District 34 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Vicente Gonzalez Jr. (D) | 51.3 | 102,780 |
 | Mayra Flores (R) | 48.7 | 97,603 | |
| Total votes: 200,383 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Brent Lewis (L)
- Chris Royal (Independent)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 34
Incumbent Vicente Gonzalez Jr. advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 34 on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Vicente Gonzalez Jr. | 100.0 | 27,745 |
| Total votes: 27,745 | |||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 34
Mayra Flores defeated Laura Cisneros, Mauro Garza, and Gregory Kunkle Jr. in the Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 34 on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mayra Flores | 81.2 | 18,307 |
 | Laura Cisneros | 8.8 | 1,991 | |
 | Mauro Garza | 6.2 | 1,388 | |
 | Gregory Kunkle Jr. | 3.8 | 863 | |
| Total votes: 22,549 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Ann Marie Torres (R)
Libertarian convention
Libertarian convention for U.S. House Texas District 34
Brent Lewis advanced from the Libertarian convention for U.S. House Texas District 34 on March 23, 2024.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | Brent Lewis (L) | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Cisneros in this election.
2022
See also: Texas' 34th Congressional District election, 2022
General election
General election for U.S. House Texas District 34
Incumbent Vicente Gonzalez Jr. defeated incumbent Mayra Flores and Chris Royal in the general election for U.S. House Texas District 34 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Vicente Gonzalez Jr. (D) | 52.7 | 70,896 |
| Mayra Flores (R) | 44.2 | 59,464 | |
 | Chris Royal (Independent) | 3.0 | 4,079 | |
| Total votes: 134,439 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Ronald Mills (Independent)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 34
The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 34 on March 1, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Vicente Gonzalez Jr. | 64.8 | 23,531 |
| Laura Cisneros | 23.3 | 8,456 | |
 | Beatriz Reynoso | 3.5 | 1,287 | |
 | William Thompson | 3.0 | 1,085 | |
| Filemon Meza | 2.5 | 920 | ||
 | Diego Zavala | 2.0 | 718 | |
| Osbert Rodriguez Haro III | 0.9 | 331 | ||
| Total votes: 36,328 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Rochelle Garza (D)
- Jaime Rodriguez (D)
- Ryan Trevino (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 34
Incumbent Mayra Flores defeated Frank McCaffrey, Gregory Kunkle Jr., and Juana Cantu-Cabrera in the Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 34 on March 1, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mayra Flores | 60.3 | 9,490 |
| Frank McCaffrey | 21.9 | 3,444 | ||
| Gregory Kunkle Jr. | 10.7 | 1,677 | |
 | Juana Cantu-Cabrera | 7.1 | 1,115 | |
| Total votes: 15,726 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Larry Polsky (R)
- Philip Sotelo (R)
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Laura Cisneros did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign website
Cisneros’s campaign website stated the following:
| “ |
Education Equality The Covid-19 pandemic caused many students to suffer a two-to-three-year decline in academic achievement. The closure of schools seriously impacted their social and emotional development, and academic growth. This is especially true in underfunded schools lacking the resources to provide a high-quality education. Our students with learning disabilities and special needs often suffer the most from a lack of these resources. Because of this lack of resources our children are being left behind academically and leaving school with the bare minimum in education when they should instead be encouraged and provided with opportunities to train in high-earning fields and tech positions. Additionally, parents are being left out of their children’s academic journeys. Parents should have a choice in the school that their children attend, and a say in their children’s curriculum and educational materials. It is time to return to a traditional learning system focused on academics, rather than pushing subjects such as gender theory and LGBTQ studies, which factor in so many variables. Gender and sexual orientation are individual personal preferences and not something to be taught in school. Let’s get back to basics and provide the children of our community with an academic education that will give them the tools to thrive in a competitive workforce. It is through education that a low-income community can prosper and rise out of poverty. I will propose that all schools initiate and implement interventions and strategies to improve this academic decline. We must fund specialized tutoring, and professional development for teachers, to allow all students to maximize their learning potential. Affordable & Accessible Health Insurance Treatable illnesses can spiral out of control with complications, and treatable cancers can become terminal due to these delayed diagnoses and treatments. Our district has some of the highest incidences of diabetes mellitus, heart attacks, strokes, high blood pressure, and limb amputations (due to illness complications) in the country, leaving many disabled or deceased before their time. Approximately 30 to 40 percent of our residents are uninsured. They cannot afford the extremely high premiums, costly medications or out of pocket expenses. And many of our residents who work full-time jobs simply do not qualify for the Affordable Care Act insurance subsidy because they earn too much or too little. Everyone deserves to have access to the best medical care available, and it is basic human decency to provide affordable insurance options to our community. The Affordable Care Act as it stands does not provide affordable or accessible medical insurance to all, or to those who need it most. As a doctor with more than 30 years of experience, I plan to work to bring about changes in legislation so that everyone has access to the medical care that they deserve. Economic Development Families and businesses in our district, and the country, are suffering endlessly. This year the inflation rate was 19 percent, an all-time high in the past 40 years. As our community struggles with such exorbitant prices for food and the bare necessities, the quality of life for our residents decreases. It’s time to do something about it. While this includes working to cut wasteful spending in Washington D.C. and lowering taxes, we can also find solutions in our own backyard by taking advantage of the benefits of our land and infrastructure. We need to incentivize corporations to consider relocating to South Texas. Our region desperately needs employment opportunities so that we can put money back into our own economy and flourish as a community, improving the quality of life for all. We are a community of hard-working people who are eager and ready to prosper, if only given the opportunity. We have the manpower to produce fine goods, and materials, and to develop contemporary and sophisticated corporations. Together, we can create a new generation of enthusiastic and successful workers. Border Security It is true that we are a nation of immigrants. Controlled legal immigration throughout the years has made our country the greatest country in the world. Allowing unregulated and lawless entry by people who do not always have the best of intentions can be dangerous and places everyone at risk. It has become a billion-dollar enterprise for the cartels. The cartels function as human traffickers. While they facilitate the entry of some good people, they also facilitate the entry of unaccompanied minors, terrorists, and violent criminals. In addition to functioning as human traffickers, they also function as drug smugglers. We are in a Fentanyl crisis, and overdose deaths are at an all-time high due to the enormous amounts of synthetic opioids brought across our sovereign border. It is without question that we must secure our borders for our own protection. It is also for the protection of innocent children, and women and families who are assaulted, raped and sold into sex trafficking, until they can pay off their enormous debts to their traffickers. Many will never be able to repay their debts and will live a life of horrific indentured servitude. Additionally, many desperate people who come looking for a better life can lose their lives along the way. They are abandoned in the mountains, deserts, and rivers to die. To date, 6-7 million people have come across our sovereign border. Of those millions who have come to the U.S. in search of the American dream, how many find themselves homeless or working for less than minimum wage? In the last few years about 300,000 unaccompanied minors have been processed by the Department of Homeland Security. Today, 85,000 of those children are now unaccounted for. Where are they? I will see that legislation is passed to make border security a reality. Supporting Our Veterans Because of the dedication, valor, bravery and sacrifice of these men and women in our Armed Forces, we proudly live in a nation that provides us the with resources and freedoms that we are so blessed to have. To date, millions of American soldiers and others in our armed forces have been horribly injured or lost their lives during times of war. But it is not only the physical injuries that have long-term effects on these brave men and women, but the emotional and mental injuries as well. Incidents of mental health issues have increased substantially among our veterans. Every day approximately 18 – 20 veterans commit suicide in our country. Depression and anxiety, coupled with alcoholism and substance abuse, are high risk factors in this sobering statistic. We have failed as a nation to provide the essential, basic care that our veterans need and deserve. We desperately need a Veterans Administration hospital in South Texas. It is long overdue. The closest Veterans Administration hospital to our region is in San Antonio, TX. How is a veteran supposed to go into a program for alcoholism or substance abuse when they don’t have an inpatient facility close to home? Facing depression, anxiety, bipolar disease, PTSD, homelessness and suicide ideation are a daily occurrence for many of our veterans. But they also suffer from comorbidities and lingering physical aftereffects of their time at war. Many are dying at an alarmingly high rate of cancer from Agent Orange, and the toxic burn pits of Afghanistan and Iraq have destined our veterans, both young and old, to a painful and aggressive death. We must help our veterans gain convenient access to treatment as early as possible to obtain the most benefit. I fully commit to ensuring that a Veterans Administration hospital will be built in our district. Mental Health Crisis In the last ten months of the year 2020, 5,568 children took their own lives. And, in 2022 approximately 49,500 people died by suicide according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which is the highest number of suicides ever recorded in one year. Many suffer from depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, PTSD, feelings of hopelessness, loneliness, isolation and fear, regardless of age, race, or socioeconomic status. Mental illness does not discriminate. Homelessness, gun violence, alcoholism and substance abuse are a reflection in most cases of mental health disorder. We must pass legislation making inpatient and outpatient treatment accessible, regardless of the patient’s socioeconomic background. Mental illness affects not only the patient, but their loved ones, and their communities. It is our responsibility as members of those communities to take care of our most vulnerable. Mental illness is a very serious issue affecting our society that should not be taken lightly. Public Safety I will do everything possible to find and make sure the necessary funding is available. If we can send billions of dollars overseas, we can allocate the necessary resources to keep us safe. We must increase the number of law enforcement officers in our community, the number of our first responders in health care (EMT’s, paramedics), as well as ambulance transportation that adequately meets the needs of our community. Violent crime is at an all-time high across the country. This is in part due to a decrease in the staffing of police personnel because of underfunding, as well as ineffective far-left district attorneys and prosecutors. It’s time we establish law and order in our communities. Our children and families deserve to be safe. I stand with and support law enforcement. Fentanyl Crisis/Substance Abuse Addiction In 2021 alone, 106,699 people died from overdoses and drug related complications and the number increased to 107,081 in 2022. The latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report predicts that there will be 109,940 overdose deaths in the 12th month ending in 2023. Most of these deaths involved illicit synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl, in combination with methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin. Illicitly mass-produced fentanyl is for the most part manufactured in Mexico using chemicals obtained from China. This fentanyl is pressed into pills, and/or mixed with other counterfeit pills that are made to look like Xanax, Adderall, or Oxycodone. Wuhan China is known as the fentanyl capital of the world. In order to stop the drug smuggling by the cartels, the southern United States border must be secured. The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) seized over 3.1 million lethal doses of fentanyl (or about 14 pounds) during a single stop in Mission, TX. This seizure was by far one of the largest by Operation Lone Star to date (April 10, 2023). We must build more substance abuse treatment centers for the treatment of drug addiction that not only treat the addiction at its base, but also treat the factors that contributed to the individual’s addiction through therapy and counseling. Treatment should not be limited to the patient and should also include their extended family members. The impact of substance abuse and drug addiction on a family and the surrounding community is detrimental to society as a whole and can cause long term consequences. [2] |
” |
| —Laura Cisneros’s campaign website (2024)[3] | ||
2022
Laura Cisneros did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Oncologist Dr. Laura Cisneros for U.S. Congress CD-34, "About Me," accessed January 14, 2024
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Oncoloist Dr. Laura Cisneros for U.S. Congress CD-34, “Issues,” accessed January 14, 2024
