Ep. 30: Fighting for the RGV - Julio Salinas on Flipping South Texas

If you want to flip Texas, you have to win the Rio Grande Valley. This week on Mission: Texas, we're sitting down with Julio Salinas — 26 years old, son of a migrant farm worker, former Texas House legislative director, and the candidate who just shocked the entire RGV political establishment by finishing first in a three-way primary for Texas House District 41. He's heading into a runoff against a candidate who only voted in a Democratic primary for the first time in 2024. We also get into el dedazo, the kingmaker problem in RGV politics, why immigration and the economy are two sides of the same coin in a region that runs on cross-border tourism, and what it means when your aunt gets detained by ICE on the same night you find out you won your primary.Plus: Julio reveals he took up fencing in college because of a girl, Kate shares a personal milestone in her journey toward federal criminal defense work, and Alex is heading to a very important banquet tonight.In this episode: Julio's origin story: from knocking doors at 15 to the Texas House floor Why being called a "career staffer" by a millionaire banker might be the best attack line a candidate could hope for The data infrastructure gap that has left the Valley behind — and how Julio's campaign is fixing it HD-41's 24-point Trump swing: what happened and who Democrats need to win back Why immigration IS an economic issue in South Texas — and why downtown McAllen is now empty El dedazo: the kingmaker machine Julio is running to disrupt Leaders We Deserve, Greg Casar's endorsement, and the new generation of Texas Democratic infrastructure The runoff: May 26th, early voting starts May 18thFollow & Connect: Julio Salinas: @Julio4RGV on TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook | julio4rgv.com — donate if you can, this is one of the most important runoffs in the state Leaders We Deserve: leaderswedeserve.com Mission: Texas on social: @missiontexaspodcastSupport the show: Independent Texas media needs your support. Become a member at patreon.com/missiontexaspodcast for just a few dollars a month, or leave us a five-star review wherever you listen. God bless Texas. 🤠