Former Rep. Mayra Flores said her Tuesday hospitalization, occurring hours after announcing her congressional campaign, was due to stress.
Flores spoke to the Washington Examiner in a phone interview Thursday, detailing updates on her health and her bid challenging criminally-indicted Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) to represent Texas’s 28th Congressional District.
The former congresswoman, who was later discharged from the hospital, said her “sudden health scare” was a result of her not prioritizing her health enough.
“I have put my health on the back-burner and stress is a silent killer,” the 39-year-old said. “I need to take better care of my stress, and it was my stress that really deteriorated my health. I’m doing a lot better but stress can do a lot of damage and sometimes we ignore it, and let’s just say I’m gonna start prioritizing myself.”
Flores announced her campaign in a Fox News article released Tuesday morning before the news broke that she was hospitalized around 2:00 p.m. the same day. A few hours later, her campaign told the Washington Examiner that she was fully recovering and set to be back on the campaign trail shortly thanks to the support she received.
Now on Thursday, she’s back, and she revealed her mindset going into her campaign against Cuellar.
I am beyond grateful to God for the gift of good health. Every day feels like a blessing, reminding me never to take life for granted.
Thank you all for your prayers and kindness—they mean the world to me. pic.twitter.com/pazEO3aqoB
— Mayra Flores (@MayraFlores4TX) April 17, 2025
The conservative Democrat was indicted alongside his wife in May 2024 on conspiracy and bribery charges in relation to a probe into the couple’s ties to Azerbaijan.
Flores says Cuellar should “resign now” and that it’s “very likely” that he will drop out of the race due to his charges. Cuellar’s situation is reminiscent of former Sen. Bob Menendez’s pursuit of reelection, which ended as he was convicted on corruption charges and forced out of the race.
The Texas Republican said her campaign is ready for that possibility. “That is something that we have thought about, we’ve thought about, you know, [him] potentially resigning as well, which, honestly he should, he should resign now, but refuses to do so. And hopefully he’s held accountable and does not run for re-election.”
After being elected in a special election in 2022, Flores lost bids in the general election the same year and in 2024 to Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX) in Texas’s 34th Congressional District. She has moved her campaign to the 28th District, which stretches from the San Antonio area to the Mexican border, to face off against Cuellar, who is more vulnerable because of the indictment.
Flores said faith pushed her to make the decision, recounting how a pastor from the new district, who she had only met once, said he had a dream where he prayed for her. After doing so, he had another dream in which the Holy Spirit spoke to him and said if Flores runs, she would win the election.
“Honestly this decision was really just on prayer,” she said. “I have been praying where God wanted me to be at, and for some reason, the Holy Spirit just kept talking to me and pushing me towards 28. I’m doing the uncomfortable, but it’s where I feel that I’m needed, and it’s where I feel God wants me to be.”
The 28th District neighbors the 34th, where Flores said she lived, noting she has family in the 28th District that she visited growing up. “I’ve traveled all over Texas. I’m a Texan and know the state very well because I was a migrant kid,” she said. “So wherever I go, I feel comfortable and I feel home, because I grew up all over Texas, and I feel that Texas 28 needs me to be here.”
Flores was born in Tamaulipas, Mexico, and moved to Texas when she was six years old.
The former congresswoman said that she recognizes the importance of tariffs despite a potential impact to local industry in her district due to Trump’s levies on Mexico.
“President [Donald] Trump threatening Mexico with tariffs got Mexico’s government to also help with border security, and they got it done. It shouldn’t have taken that. They should have done that a long time ago,” she said.
She’s optimistic that the surge of Hispanic support for Trump in the 2024 election will help her. Voters in her district, which is heavily Hispanic, voted for Trump 53% to 46% in the past election. Trump won’t be on the ballot in 2026, but she believes she can win with hard work after feeling like she ran out of time in her bid to win Texas’s 34th.
“Texas 28 has to not be represented by a Democrat. It is a Republican district. It’s a district that can be easily won. We just have to raise the money, of course, and put in the work,” she said.
Flores also commented on Texas’s 2026 Senate race, backing Attorney General Ken Paxton over Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) in the Republican primary. “I support Paxton. I’ve always supported him, and I wish Cornyn the best, but I’m really good friends with our Attorney General,” she said.
MAYRA FLORES BLAMES HOSPITALIZATION ON STRESS AS SHE PREPARES TO UNSEAT EMBATTLED CUELLAR
The mother of four said she will focus on school safety if she’s elected to Congress again and would reintroduce the “Reduce Gun Violence Act” she introduced in the 2022 Congress. That bill aimed to secure schools and provide access to mental health resources.
She also wants to “empower farmers and ranchers” as a former farm worker herself, to prevent a foreign country from attacking America’s food industry.
