Pulido, Teixeira Hope to Ride Fame to Congressional Seats

By Natalia Rodriguez

Reporting Texas

Ronald Reagan went from actor to governor to president. Donald Trump went from real-estate developer to reality TV star to president. Now, two Texas celebrities, Bobby Pulido and Mark Teixeira, hope to join that list as they run for U.S. Congress without holding any prior office.

“Name recognition is huge,” says University of Texas Rio Grande Valley professor Richard Longoria, whose research focuses on celebrity politics. “It’s one of the biggest predictors for people that study electoral politics. Getting a lot of media attention and being well known is a huge advantage, but by itself is not enough.”

Pulido, a Tejano music star known for his 1995 hit “Desvelado,” is running in Tuesday’s Democratic primary against law school graduate and doctor Ada Cuellar to represent Congressional District 15. Pulido has been endorsed by fellow Democratic candidates James Talarico, running for U.S. Senate, and Gina Hinojosa, running for governor. Politico reported recently that Pulido’s internal polling showed him leading Cuellar by 50 percentage points.

“If we’re going to win, we have to talk to people that voted Republican,” Pulido said at a Friday night rally with Hinojosa and Talarico. “They’re not our enemies. Whatever happened in the past, happened in the past. What do we do from here moving forward? I do believe that we are the party of inclusivity, and that also means to make it a bigger tent so we can bring everybody in.”

Pulido’s supporters say the Tejano star’s ability to unite communities across the political spectrum secured their vote.

“I think I just resonate with his roots,” Rio Grande Valley native Erica Quintanilla said. “We are able to connect in a way that is very different. I have all faith that Bobby is for us, for the people, for the gente.”

For others, such as Danny Montez, who supports Pulido’s opponent, that connection did not reach them.

“Personally, he’s a bit more conservative than I would like a candidate to be,” Montez said. “I happen to lean very far to the left, and the last famous politician that’s been around is Donald Trump, and that hasn’t exactly worked out. I believe Dr. Cuellar has what it takes to actually put up a good fight against the White House and for a better Texas.”

Meanwhile, in the 21st Congressional District northwest of San Antonio in the Hill Country, retired New York Yankees and Texas Rangers baseball player Teixeira is one of 14 candidates running in the Republican primary for the seat being vacated by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Austin. Even though Trump appointed one of Teixeira’s opponents, Trey Trainor, to serve on the Federal Election Committee, Teixeira won the endorsements of Trump and Gov. Greg Abbott.

Paul James, president of Young Republicans of Bexar County, says familiarity has a lot to do with his support for Teixeira.

“I grew up watching baseball,” James said. “I saw him as a baseball player. He was a phenomenal baseball player, very strong individual, very good leadership qualities.” 

James said his respect for the retired athlete grew after attending a luncheon featuring Teixeira as a keynote speaker. There, James learned of Teixeira’s  philanthropic work, including serving on the board of DREAM, a youth development foundation, and endowments towards education, including his alma mater, Georgia Tech. Teixeira was also awarded the 2018 Heisman Humanitarian Award.

“As I saw his campaign develop, he did have, number one, the resources, number two, the endorsements,” James said. “He had very high quality endorsements come out very early, and that was appraisal of the work he had already been doing before he ever announced to become a candidate for that race, so it was very easy to endorse him.”

Trump’s endorsement would also validate James’ backing.

“I guess the icing on the cake was when President Trump announced he was endorsing him as well,” James said. “For the Republican primary, that’s basically ‘Hey, that guy’s the winner,’ … the strength of Trump’s endorsement is very strong.”

Despite each candidate’s platforms, Longoria shared a harsh reality for celebrity politicians’ chances of success — as seen in Herschel Walker’s 2022 run for Senate in Georgia, Caitlyn Jenner’s unsuccessful 2019 bid for governor of California and again in Kanye West’s independent run in the 2020 presidential election.

“Celebrity candidates usually lose, just like any other novice candidate,” Longoria said. “But they do better than your usual novice candidate. They have a better chance at winning than somebody else running for the first time.”

Longoria said that fame does not make standard campaign codes disappear.

“The normal laws of politics still apply,” Longoria said. “Their partisanship, their name recognition, their fundraising ability – all this stuff still matters and is probably the most important thing.”

Teixeira is running in a deeply Republican district where the GOP nominee is likely to be favored in November, while Pulido is running to flip District 15’s seat, which is currently held by Republican Rep. Monica De La Cruz. Longoria said that in the event that Pulido wins his primary, flipping the seat in November is unlikely.

“If you’re the out party, it’s still going to be a difficult place to win,” Longoria said. “If you’re a Democrat or a Republican district and vice versa, the chances of flipping are usually not good. If the party trend is against the candidate in the district, typically being a celebrity is not enough.”