Republican Mayra Flores flips Texas House district red in special election

Republican Mayra Flores has defeated Dan Sanchez to flip the Texas 34th District seat formerly held by Democrat Rep. Filemon Vela, who resigned in March

Kyle Morris covers politics for Fox News. On Twitter: @RealKyleMorris.

Flores will finish out the remainder of Vela's term, which expires in January, and Republicans were eager to win the seat and gain new ground in the Lone Star state to represent the district that spans east of San Antonio with parts along the coast to Brownsville. As currently drawn, the 34th Congressional District will essentially be dissolved later this year after a newly redrawn map favoring current 15th Congressional District Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, the Democratic nominee for November's general election to represent the 34th District, was constructed. 

Ahead of the election, the two front runners in the race for a short term on Capitol Hill were Sanchez, a former Cameron County commissioner, a Democrat, and healthcare worker Flores, a Republican who outspent Sanchez and gained steam in the race for the seat that has been vacant for more than two months.