CNN Spanish
—

Many young women dream of having one of their favorite artists sing at their quinceanera party. That dream came true for three young people in the state of Texas who celebrated their birthdays on Saturday with a serenade by Tejano music singer Bobby Pulido. The artist arrived at the celebrations accompanied by a mariachi and turned the celebration into a political event.

Pulido is also the Democratic candidate for Congress for the 15th District of Texas, a district that extends from the border with Mexico to south of San Antonio.

After securing the nomination in the primary elections on March 3, Pulido will have as an opponent the Republican and current representative of the district, Mónica de la Cruz. The legislator issued a statement criticizing Pulido. “The residents of South Texas deserve someone much better. This election is not about who you want to play at your niece’s quinceañera; it’s about who you trust for your family’s future,” he said, in the statement.

Pulido interpreted the message as an insult to the tradition of celebrating young women. However, a spokesperson for De la Cruz’s campaign denied that this was the congresswoman’s intention and described this interpretation as “ridiculous.”

Taking advantage of the media attention, Pulido announced on social networks that, if invited to a quinceañera, he would consider attending and singing for the celebration. A spokesperson for their campaign stated that they received more than 2,000 invitations from all over the country, including the eleven counties that make up the congressional district, so they decided to focus on local requests.

On Saturday, Pulido attended two events in Edinburg and Elsa, Texas, where in addition to singing, he gave the young girls caps with the motto: “Make Quinceañeras Great Again.”

A spokesperson for Mónica de la Cruz’s campaign declared after the serenades: “This is the same Bobby Pulido who just told a reporter that his history of promoting pornography, sharing intimate photos of women without their consent and mocking mothers’ genitals reflects Hispanic culture. Those are not our values.” The statement includes links to notes that highlight Pulido’s comments on social networks that have been deleted.

Pulido’s campaign did not respond directly to these accusations, pointing to an Associated Press article indicating that the artist has been criticized for social media posts of tasteless jokes, sexist comments and links to pornographic material. Pulido told the AP that he is embarrassed by those posts and adds that his sense of humor is based on the Spanish language since he has a large following in Mexico and that often does not translate well into English.

Additionally, through a statement, Pulido told CNN on Monday that it has been an honor to celebrate with the quinceañeras and their families: “Quinceañeras are more than a party, they are a celebration of our culture.” He also invited De la Cruz to participate in one of those parties, claiming that it is the closest thing to a community meeting to address his constituents.

The battle for Texas’ 15th Congressional District is emerging as one of the most relevant of this year’s midterm elections according to CNN analysis. Democrats are confident that Pulido can recover a seat that historically favored his party, but that in 2022 elected De la Cruz. On that occasion, the Republican benefited from the popularity of Donald Trump, who helped her party gain ground among Latino voters in Texas.

However, Democrats maintain that that support has diminished and they believe they have the advantage in terms of the enthusiasm of their base. They hope that candidates with Pulido’s profile will help add the necessary votes not only to recover recently lost districts, but also to boost their candidates to the Senate and the governorship.