HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — U.S. Rep. Mayra Flores, R-Los Indios, may be getting sued by her former political rival for a text message that was sent out early Monday evening.
The text suggests Democrat Dan Sanchez, a well-known Harlingen attorney, has switched political parties and is no longer endorsing U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen.
Sanchez spoke exclusively to CBS 4 Monday night and he says the text is a lie and he’ll see Flores in court.
“Well, you know, this, this has defamed me, because I have gotten all kinds of phone calls and text messages from people saying, ‘Hey, how could you turn your back on Vicente? How could you switch if you had an event for him? You know, that’s not good for you to be a turncoat. What are you talking about?,” Sanchez said.
“You know, so my reputation has been bruised by this because there are people out there that support me that are supporting Vicente and think that I turned my back on him.”
The message reads, “It’s Dan Sanchez from Harlingen & I OFFICIALLY SUPPORT Mayra Flores for Congress in TX-34, Filemon Vela’s FORMER DISTRICT. She’s the BEST CHOICE for TX-34, and Mayra will better our South Texas communities and make our country STRONGER! stop=end”
Sanchez also went on live on Facebook Monday evening telling his friends and supporters not to be fooled by the text.
Flores beat Sanchez, a longtime Democrat, in a special election in June. Sanchez says he expects to file a lawsuit against Flores for defamation within the next 30 days.
There’s no word on who sent the text message, which was distributed through a robo-call.
We reached out to the Mayra Flores campaign for reaction, but have yet to hear back from her office.
