Help us improve in just 2 minutes—share your thoughts in our reader survey.

Michelle Vallejo

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
BP-Initials-UPDATED.png
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Michelle Vallejo
Image of Michelle Vallejo
Elections and appointments
Last election

November 5, 2024

Personal
Birthplace
Alton, Texas
Religion
Catholic
Contact

Michelle Vallejo (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Texas' 15th Congressional District. She lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Biography

Michelle Vallejo was born in Alton, Texas.[1] Vallejo studied political science and history at Columbia University. Vallejo was a business owner and co-founded two organizations focused on community leadership and minority women in business.[2]

Elections

2024

See also: Texas' 15th Congressional District election, 2024

Texas' 15th Congressional District election, 2024 (March 5 Republican primary)

Texas' 15th Congressional District election, 2024 (March 5 Democratic primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House Texas District 15

Incumbent Monica De La Cruz defeated Michelle Vallejo in the general election for U.S. House Texas District 15 on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Monica De La Cruz
Monica De La Cruz (R)
 
57.1
 
127,804
Image of Michelle Vallejo
Michelle Vallejo (D)
 
42.9
 
95,965

Total votes: 223,769
Candidate Connection = 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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 15

Michelle Vallejo defeated John Villarreal Rigney in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 15 on March 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Michelle Vallejo
Michelle Vallejo
 
74.7
 
21,456
Image of John Villarreal Rigney
John Villarreal Rigney
 
25.3
 
7,268

Total votes: 28,724
Candidate Connection = 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.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 15

Incumbent Monica De La Cruz defeated Vangela Churchill in the Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 15 on March 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Monica De La Cruz
Monica De La Cruz
 
88.2
 
30,972
Image of Vangela Churchill
Vangela Churchill
 
11.8
 
4,140

Total votes: 35,112
Candidate Connection = 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.

Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for U.S. House Texas District 15

Arthur DiBianca advanced from the Libertarian convention for U.S. House Texas District 15 on March 23, 2024.

Candidate
Image of Arthur DiBianca
Arthur DiBianca (L)

Candidate Connection = 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.

Endorsements

Vallejo received the following endorsements.

Pledges

Vallejo signed the following pledges.

  • U.S. Term Limits

2022

See also: Texas' 15th Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House Texas District 15

Monica De La Cruz defeated Michelle Vallejo and Ross Lynn Leone in the general election for U.S. House Texas District 15 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Monica De La Cruz
Monica De La Cruz (R)
 
53.3
 
80,978
Image of Michelle Vallejo
Michelle Vallejo (D) Candidate Connection
 
44.8
 
68,097
Image of Ross Lynn Leone
Ross Lynn Leone (L)
 
1.9
 
2,814

Total votes: 151,889
Candidate Connection = 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.

Democratic primary runoff election

Democratic primary runoff for U.S. House Texas District 15

Michelle Vallejo defeated Ruben Ramirez in the Democratic primary runoff for U.S. House Texas District 15 on May 24, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Michelle Vallejo
Michelle Vallejo Candidate Connection
 
50.1
 
6,079
Image of Ruben Ramirez
Ruben Ramirez
 
49.9
 
6,049

Total votes: 12,128
Candidate Connection = 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.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 15

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 15 on March 1, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Ruben Ramirez
Ruben Ramirez
 
28.3
 
9,221
Image of Michelle Vallejo
Michelle Vallejo Candidate Connection
 
20.1
 
6,570
Image of John Villarreal Rigney
John Villarreal Rigney Candidate Connection
 
19.2
 
6,268
Image of Eliza Alvarado
Eliza Alvarado
 
16.5
 
5,398
Image of Vanessa Tijerina
Vanessa Tijerina
 
10.6
 
3,470
Image of Julio Garza
Julio Garza Candidate Connection
 
5.2
 
1,693

Total votes: 32,620
Candidate Connection = 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

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 15

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 15 on March 1, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Monica De La Cruz
Monica De La Cruz
 
56.5
 
16,835
Image of Mauro Garza
Mauro Garza
 
15.3
 
4,544
Image of Sara Canady
Sara Canady Candidate Connection
 
9.2
 
2,741
Image of Ryan Krause
Ryan Krause
 
9.2
 
2,728
Steve Schmuker Jr.
 
3.6
 
1,064
John Lerma
 
2.2
 
658
Jose Aizar Cavazos
 
1.7
 
504
Angela Juarez
 
1.4
 
416
Image of Vangela Churchill
Vangela Churchill Candidate Connection
 
1.0
 
298

Total votes: 29,788
Candidate Connection = 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.

Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for U.S. House Texas District 15

Ross Lynn Leone advanced from the Libertarian convention for U.S. House Texas District 15 on March 19, 2022.

Candidate
Image of Ross Lynn Leone
Ross Lynn Leone (L)

Candidate Connection = 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.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Michelle Vallejo did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign website

Vallejo’s campaign website stated the following:

AFFORDABLE, HIGH-QUALITY HEALTHCARE
The healthcare system is broken and leaves many South Texans uninsured, underinsured, and one trip to the hospital away from bankruptcy. No one should have to cross the border into Mexico for affordable medical care and treatment, but that’s the reality in South Texas.

Michelle’s mother passed away at age 46 after battling MS for 15 years and had to travel to Mexico for health care because she couldn’t afford it here in Texas. Michelle knows these are the challenges many South Texas families face, so she will fight to ensure we have access to affordable, quality health care and expand rural hospitals.

Michelle believes we should expand Medicare to cover dental, hearing, prescription drugs, mental health, substance abuse treatment, long-term, and disability care.

And she supports expanding Medicaid, using the tax dollars that we’re already sending to Washington to provide life-saving care to thousands of South Texans.

We need a healthcare system that also works for healthcare providers to do their life-saving work to the best of their abilities and limits the power and influence of insurance companies on our healthcare system.

PROTECT & EXPAND SOCIAL SECURITY & MEDICARE
Our current representative, Monica De La Cruz, has voted to jeopardize Social Security and Medicare. She is putting her political party over the lives of our abuelos and abuelas in the district.

Monica and republicans have jeopardized Social Security by raising the retirement age, reducing earnings, and privatizing the system. Social Security has provided our parents and grandparents a dignified retirement for generations, and we can’t risk gambling away their hard-earned benefits on Wall Street. Michelle will always protect the Social Security benefits you’ve earned through a lifetime of work.

Michelle strongly supports allowing Medicare to negotiate lower prescription drug prices and expanding Medicare benefits to include dental, vision, and hearing services for our seniors who have earned these benefits.

GOOD–PAYING JOBS & A THRIVING ECONOMY
For decades wages have been nearly stagnant. At the same time, the cost of gas, goods, food, housing, and healthcare has continued to climb. According to the US Census, the average sales price of a home in the US more than doubled from 2000 to 2021. (Average Sales Price of Houses Sold for the United States (ASPUS)

Hard-working South Texans deserve a raise. Michelle supports raising the minimum wage and tying it to inflation so wages never fall behind again. No American should have to work two or three jobs to support their family and make ends meet. Michelle will fight to bring funds to the district to help small businesses and expand economic development so that no one has to leave South Texas to make ends meet.

Every year, billions of dollars of trade come across our ports of entry, making cross-border trade one of the most essential components of our local economy. Unfortunately, for far too long, South Texas has been exploited by Fortune 500 companies for cheap labor in the maquiladoras along the Texas-Mexico border. Unfair trade deals like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) shifted good paying, union jobs south of the border for sweatshop wages, including South Texas and the McAllen Foreign Trade Zone. We will fight for trade deals that protect workers, the environment, and human rights while ensuring bad actors are held accountable when violating labor and environmental laws. We need to embrace the border as a place to fuse ideas and culture and encourage innovation to flourish.

PROTECTING REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
Michelle believes that the government has no business being involved in women’s private health decisions. She trusts women to make the best choices for themselves and their families. But Texas’ extreme abortion ban has taken away those freedoms, even from victims of rape and incest.

Republicans are also threatening access to birth control and other reproductive health care. Women should have the right to make their own decisions with their families, faith, and doctors—and not be criminalized for those choices.

ENERGY JOBS & INVESTING IN OUR FUTURE
Devastating floods impact thousands of South Texans due to the increasing rate of climate change and natural disasters, costing taxpayers billions of dollars in flood damage due to a lack of infrastructure improvements. Michelle strongly supports the bipartisan infrastructure law that will bring billions of dollars to South Texas to upgrade our drainage, roads, and bridges.

Michelle believes Texas should remain the leading energy producer in the country and the world. She supports an all of the above approach that keeps people working in oil and gas while investing significantly in clean and renewable energy to lower costs for Texas families and create thousands of new jobs that can’t be outsourced.

We have incredible opportunities to grow Texas energy jobs. Texas is now the leading wind energy AND solar energy producer in America. And wind now provides the second largest share of our energy supply, passing coal last year. We must support the development of these critical energy sources to create jobs, make our grid more reliable and lower costs for Texas families.

AFFORDABLE EDUCATION
Michelle knows that a four-year degree isn’t the only path to a career. Community colleges and trade schools also provide a pathway to high-paying, stable jobs to support our families. But, unfortunately, sky-rocketing tuition costs for public college and trade school have made higher education and skills training out of reach for too many South Texans.

As someone still paying off her student loans, Michelle knows the burden student debt can place on Valley families. Students shouldn’t be crushed under the weight of unreasonable student loans just because they couldn’t afford it or didn’t come from a wealthy family. She supports making trade school and community college tuition-free so more South Texans can attain the skills they need for a good job.

IMMIGRATION
Michelle is committed to securing our border while treating migrants with dignity and upholding their legal right to seek asylum. We must ensure our law enforcement agencies have what they need to end drug and human trafficking and protect their right to bargain for better working conditions. Our asylum process must be efficient. We need to invest in border infrastructure to ensure all ports of entry can handle the backlog of asylum seekers and refine our enforcement practices to become more conscious of humanitarian needs.

We must pass an earned pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who have worked hard and contributed to their communities. We can fix our broken immigration system, treat immigrants seeking the American Dream with humanity, and provide hard-working families with a legal, permanent, and safe path to citizenship.

Additionally, we must stop the political grandstanding with Dreamers who are actively participating and making a positive impact in our economic growth through DACA. It is time to legislate a permanent solution like the Dream Act to fully incorporate them into the American economy.

MAKING THE WEALTHY PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE
In the last four decades, wages have stagnated while the top 1% get richer. The pandemic has left thousands of South Texans in unstable economic conditions while billionaire wealth has surged. It’s time for Wall Street, big corporations, and billionaires to pay their fair share so that we can close the gaps that have hurt the working and middle class in America.

Michelle strongly opposes Republican budget cuts to our schools, veterans’ health care and Medicare and Social Security, and believes that we shouldn’t reduce the deficit on the backs of working families when the most privileged in our society aren’t pulling their weight.

ENDING GUN VIOLENCE
We must protect our communities from gun violence to prevent another tragedy like in El Paso in 2019, Uvalde in 2022, and Allen, TX this year.

South Texans aren’t afraid of guns—we grew up shooting at gun ranges and hunting on family ranches. But we also know that common-sense gun safety measures can prevent gun violence in America and still respect the Second Amendment.

Michelle strongly supports the bipartisan gun safety bill written by Texas Sen. John Cornyn that strengthened background checks and funded red flag laws that will help keep firearms out of the hands of people who are a danger to themselves or others. But Texans overwhelmingly support doing more, like creating universal background checks for all gun sales and stopping permitless concealed carry.

EXPANDING VOTING RIGHTS
Texas Republicans are making it harder for Texans of all parties and backgrounds to vote. Last March, over 12% of all mail-in ballots—nearly 25,000 Texans’ votes—were rejected and not counted. That’s 1 in 8 mail-in voters who lost their voice on the ballot, regardless of political party.

All Americans have a constitutional right to fair and equal access to the ballot, and it’s time to pass electoral reforms that would end gerrymandering of congressional districts and allow early voting, mail-in voting, and campaign finance transparency.

CARING FOR OUR VETERANS
Our veterans deserve nothing less than the best medical care. They have given so much through their selfless service to our country. It is our sacred obligation to take care of them after their honorable service.

Unfortunately, our current representative, Monica De La Cruz, has voted to slash benefits for veterans by up to $29.7 Billion. That means an estimated 23% cut for the VA in 2024 compared to 2023. That could translate to 13 million fewer health care appointments for veterans and deep cuts to the agency according to media reports.

The current VA healthcare system is failing our veterans as it is. We must raise pay and upgrade our facilities so that we can recruit the best nurses, doctors, and mental health professionals.

Additionally, we must fight for a VA hospital in the Rio Grande Valley and increase veterans' access to healthcare resources as close as possible to their homes. Veterans who selflessly fought for our country shouldn't have to drive hours for care.

Michelle will also fight to provide housing for homeless veterans and access to mental health services to stop the public health crisis of veteran suicide.

We must always stand up for and honor our veterans and their families.

LOWERING COSTS FOR FAMILIES
Michelle sees the impact of rising costs on families daily at Pulga Los Portales, the community market she runs. More customers are coming weekly to find affordable produce and food and bargain for cheaper home goods that are too expensive at the grocery store.

The most significant cost facing many families continues to be rising health care and prescription drug costs. Michelle will take on the drug and insurance companies to lower prices and make health care affordable for every South Texas family. Michelle's mother battled multiple sclerosis for 15 long years and had no option but to go to Mexico to afford treatment and medications. No American should be forced across the border for the care they need in the richest country on earth.

In addition, Michelle knows we need to strengthen our supply chain by bringing manufacturing jobs back to America. We can lower costs and put Americans to work by keeping those jobs here instead of in other countries. Wages must also keep up with inflation. Therefore, Michelle supports raising the minimum wage and tying it to inflation so Americans' incomes aren't slashed by inflation.

Michelle also supports investing in Texas' wind and solar energy production, which can help stabilize our grid and lower electricity costs for South Texas families.

Finally, Michelle will also fight to strengthen the region's small businesses and economic development so entrepreneurial families can lift themselves up and provide a better life for their children.

LGBTQ EQUALITY & JUSTICE
Every South Texan deserves equal protection and justice, regardless of who they are and who they love. LGBTQ+ families and individuals are part of the fabric of our communities and they should be able to live free of discrimination. It’s been long overdue for Congress to pass the Equality Act, which would explicitly ban any discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender. We need to fight for a health care system that ensures our LGBTQ+ community has access to the services they need.[3]

—Michelle Vallejo’s campaign website (2024)[4]

2022

Candidate Connection

Michelle Vallejo completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Vallejo's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

My name is Michelle Vallejo, and I am running for Congress to represent Texas district 15. I come from a big family of farm workers, immigrants, and entrepreneurs. My parents did a little bit of everything, but running Pulga Los Portales is what has profoundly defined our family values and work ethic to this day.

In 2010, during my sophomore year at Columbia University in New York City, my life would change forever. After years of fighting multiple sclerosis, my mother took her last breath at just 46 years old. It was this moment that would mark a new chapter in my life, one in which I realized that the best way to honor her legacy is to fight for a better future for my family and for all of us.

So I returned to the Rio Grande Valley and got to work. I stepped up to help my dad run our family-owned Pulga Los Portales. I co-founded two organizations to support community leaders and minority women in business. I’ve volunteered with immigrants’ rights organizations. And now, I was nominated to run for Congress by LUPE Votes.

I want us to build stronger and healthier neighborhoods. I have a plan to make this happen, and it starts with fighting for medicare for all and raising the minimum wage to $15.

We’re at a critical moment for the future of our district. I’m ready to fight our pueblo in Congress.

We need medicare for all because our moms, dads, tios, y abuelos deserve to get the health care they need. Going to Mexico for medicine or selling chicken plates to cover hospital bills is not a dignified way to protect our loved ones, and health care is a human right.

We need to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour because $7.25 is not enough to pay rent and bills in South Texas (or anywhere in the country). Even though South Texas has one of the lowest unemployment rates, our region has one of the highest poverty rates. It’s time to raise the unlivable low wages that hurt the vast majority of us and only benefit greedy corporations.

We need free public college and trade school, and we need to forgive all student debt once and for all. Sky-rocketing tuition costs have made college and trade school inaccessible for many South Texans. For those who graduate, student debt crushes opportunities, especially for low-income, first-generation, people of color.

And we need to embrace the border as a welcoming place where people of all backgrounds and walks of life can come together and thrive. The border and the river are parts of us that we should honor because they give us our culture and way of life. Militarization, walls, and violence don’t represent who we are. We need to welcome newcomers with dignity, restore and improve our asylum system, and give a pathway to Citizenship for the 11 million undocumented people.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign website

Vallejo's campaign website stated the following:

MICHELLE'S PRIORITIES

Michelle Vallejo is the only candidate to be nominated by the people of TX-15 to represent them in Congress. Through a pueblo-powered process with LUPE Votes, Michelle proudly accepted the nomination and pledged to advocate for the Pueblo Platform, which seeks to advance the rights of all working-class people in South Texas.
  • HEALTH CARE FOR ALL
South Texans deserve better than the ineffective healthcare that leaves many uninsured, underinsured and unprotected. No one should have to cross the border into Mexico for affordable medical care and treatment. But that’s the reality in South Texas. We have the highest rates of uninsured residents in the country. Medicare For All, a single-payer universal healthcare system, is the care we deserve. No networks, no premiums, no co-pays or deductibles and no surprise medical bills. Best of all, no price gouging for-profit health insurers who profit off the sick. Medicare For All would extend Medicare to cover dental, hearing, prescription drugs, mental health and substance abuse treatment, long-term and disability care, and reproductive and maternity care. As the richest country in the history of the world, it’s time we invest in our people’s health, including our frontline care workers. As the first step, let’s start closing the gap by extending it to at least those who are 50 years or older.
  • RAISING THE MINIMUM WAGE TO $15
For decades wages have been almost stagnant. The cost of living continues to climb and South Texans are left behind while other states and cities are mandating living wages at $15 an hour. It’s time to shake the staggeringly low wages along the U.S.-Mexico border and demand a $15 minimum wage that’s tied to inflation.
  • REBUILDING OUR INFRASTRUCTURE THROUGH CLIMATE JOBS
Thousands of South Texans are impacted by devastating floods accelerating every year due to climate change and natural disasters. Our local leaders have failed to offer bold policy solutions to combat climate change and invest in our crumbling infrastructure. Through a federal jobs guarantee program, every unemployed American would be granted a good paying, union job that would transition our infrastructure like every building, home and roads to 100% renewable energy. Fossil fuel workers will not be left behind as they would be prioritized through a just transition for renewable energy and infrastructure where housing, healthcare, and training would be guaranteed. This jobs program would establish a baseline for wages and benefits to lift thousands of South Texans out of poverty. Most importantly, it would invest in our infrastructure and renewable energy to fight climate change in our community.
  • FREE PUBLIC COLLEGE AND TRADE SCHOOL + ELIMINATING STUDENT DEBT
We are failing to deliver on the promise that a college degree leads to a meaningful career and a better life. Sky-rocketing tuition costs for college and trade school have made higher education inaccessible for South Texans. Recent graduates’ opportunities are crushed under the weight of student loan debt that deepens racial and class disparities. In order to end the equity gap in higher education for low income communities of color, we must support free public college and trade school and forgive all student loan debt.
  • EMBRACING THE BORDER + IMMIGRATION JUSTICE
Whether you were born here or moved here, you become a South Texan when you work hard and leave things better for those to come. South Texans welcome newcomers. We share meals with our undocumented family and neighbors. We give shelter and help to refugees when the government will not. We make our region more just and livable for all when we unite across differences. Our rights and opportunities should be shared across race and immigration status. It’s time to end the destruction of our immigration system by greedy corporations and power-hungry politicians. To do that, we must pass a pathway to Citizenship for all 11 million undocumented Americans. We must restore, improve and protect asylum. We must reunite all families separated by deportation. We must create avenues for newcomers to move here with visas. And we must create clear boundaries between the immigration system and the racist criminal legal system. We need to embrace the border as a fusing place of ideas and culture and encourage innovation to flourish.
  • CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM
It’s time to end the corruption plaguing South Texas politics that allows big corporate donors to dominate our political system with politiqueros and politicos vendidos. We need to repeal Citizens United and ban corporate Super PACs and publicly finance our elections to eliminate conflict of interests with elected leaders. We need pueblo-powered small donors to support our elected leaders, no more pay-for-play in our government that enriches big donors but leaves the working class behind.
  • TAX THE TOP 1%
In the last four decades, we’ve seen wages stagnant while the top 1% get richer. The coronavirus pandemic that has left thousands of South Texans in unstable economic conditions while billionaire wealth has surged. It’s time Wall Street, corporations and billionaires pay their fair share to close the gap on racial and wealth inequalities that have dismantled the working and middle class in America.
  • PROTECT + EXPAND SOCIAL SECURITY
Republicans and corporate Democrats want to continue gutting Social Security by raising the retirement age, reducing earnings and privatizing retirement. It’s time to protect the most popular social program in the U.S. and expand Social Security benefits, not slash them.
  • FAIR TRADE IN THE BORDERLANDS
For far too long, our border has been exploited by Fortune 500 companies for cheap labor in the maquiladoras along the Texas-Mexico border. Unfair trade deals like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) shifted good paying, union jobs to the Global South for sweatshop wages, including South Texas and the McAllen Foreign Trade Zone. We will fight for fair trade deals that protect workers, the environment and human rights while ensuring multinational corporations and sovereign nations are held accountable when violating labor and environmental laws. It’s time we write trade deals that address labor and human rights and their impact on our land, air, and water as a guide for progressive economic development for a region like South Texas.
  • JUSTICE REFORM
Whatever our race, background or zip code, we all want to move through our communities without fearing for our lives or our loved ones. But the people entrusted to serve and protect our communities target, detain and even kill our neighbors like Jorge Gonzalez-Zuñiga. The War on Drugs and the dismantling of social safety nets have ravaged communities of color. We now have the largest prison population in the world and many of those prisons are here in South Texas. It’s time for liberty and justice to be for all. We must end mandatory minimum sentencing, cash bail, solitary confinement, private prisons, qualified immunity, and prioritizing investing in mental health resources and services for our community. It’s time to reform our justice system with stronger civilian review boards and violence interruption programs. In order to have the care, security and support every one of us needs, we need to rebuild a justice system to be based on redemption, not punishment.
  • LGBTQ+ JUSTICE
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer South Texans deserve equal protection and justice. LGBTQ families and individuals are part of the fabric of our communities. It’s been long overdue for Congress to pass the Equality Act that would explicitly ban any discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender for the LGBTQ+ community. We need to fight for a Medicare For All system that ensures our LGBTQ+ community has access to specialized services and protects trans health access.
  • REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE
We all deserve to decide how we live and thrive. Personal autonomy over our bodies is a right and is the basis of a free and full life. We must have the freedom to decide to have children or not have children. And from there, we must be free to parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities. We must keep abortion legal, affordable and accessible. Contraception, comprehensive sex education, and STI prevention and care are essential. For those who decide to have children, we must ensure alternative birth options and quality prenatal and pregnancy care. And all people should have access to domestic violence assistance, adequate wages to support our families, safe homes, and so much more.
  • END GUN VIOLENCE
Common sense gun safety measures can end gun violence in America. The majority of Americans support expanded background checks and a ban on assault weapons and high capacity magazines. We should not let powerful big donors like the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the billion-dollar gun manufacturing industry write policy that has worsened gun violence in the last two decades. We need to protect our community from gun violence to prevent another tragedy like what happened in El Paso in 2019.
  • VOTING RIGHTS
Texas has been at the forefront of the disastrous United States Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder in 2013 that allows states to reverse voting rights protections fought during the civil rights movement. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law one of the worst voting restrictions since the Jim Crow era in Sept. 2021, making it harder for bilingual or Spanish dominant counties to expand voting options that made voting more accessible for communities of color. All Americans have a right to fair and equal access to the ballot, and it’s time to pass the For The People Act that would end gerrymandering of congressional districts and mandate early voting, mail-in voting, and campaign finance transparency.
  • PROGRESSIVE FOREIGN POLICY
We have to lead by example and use our bargaining power to encourage countries to improve labor, environmental, and human rights across the world. Combating climate change is very much dependent on changing our foreign policy to stop the disproportionate emission contributions from our military and trade deals.
And most importantly, enough with sending our young people to the frontlines fighting wars for defense contractors and big donors.
  • PROTECTING OUR VETERANS
We need to invest in our troops and veterans by improving Veterans Affairs (VA) services and their health benefits to include free dental, vision, and other medical care. We need to provide universal housing for houseless veterans and access to mental health services to stop the public health crisis of veteran suicide. This is why it’s imperative we fight for a VA hospital in the Rio Grande Valley. And we need to support veterans with the resources and training they need to help them transition to civilian life.[3]
—Michelle Vallejo's campaign website (2022)[5]

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.


Michelle Vallejo campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2024* U.S. House Texas District 15Lost general$2,388,899 $2,382,803
2022U.S. House Texas District 15Lost general$2,346,631 $2,334,914
Grand total$4,735,530 $4,717,717
Sources: OpenSecretsFederal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete

See also


External links

Footnotes

  1. Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on January 25, 2022.
  2. Michelle Vallejo for Congress, "Meet Michelle," accessed February 8, 2022
  3. 3.0 3.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  4. Michelle Vallejo for Congress, “Issues,” accessed January 19, 2024
  5. Michelle Vallejo for Congress, “Platform,” accessed February 10, 2022


Senators
Representatives
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
Al Green (D)
District 10
District 11
District 12
District 13
District 14
District 15
District 16
District 17
District 18
Vacant
District 19
District 20
District 21
Chip Roy (R)
District 22
District 23
District 24
District 25
District 26
District 27
District 28
District 29
District 30
District 31
District 32
District 33
District 34
District 35
District 36
District 37
District 38
Republican Party (27)
Democratic Party (12)
Vacancies (1)