Screwworm outbreak hits vacant Texas congressional district, as leading candidates scramble to assist
By Gabby Birenbaum, The Texas Tribune
June 9, 2026
WASHINGTON — When the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced last week that the nation’s first case of New World screwworm had been detected in Zavala County, it was a code red development for the thousands of ranchers in southwest Texas.
In most of the quarantine zone set up around the first confirmed case in La Pryor, those ranchers don’t have a member of Congress to turn to.
Three screwworm cases have been reported in the 23rd Congressional District since Wednesday — two in Zavala County calves last week and an additional case in a La Salle County calf Monday. The outbreak of screwworm — a flesh-eating parasitic fly that poses serious risk to the state’s massive cattle industry — has triggered a coordinated federal and state response to contain and eradicate the fly, making communication between ranchers and pet owners on the ground and federal agencies critical.
But the 23rd District is vacant because Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio, resigned in April amid an ethics investigation into his sexual relationship with a staffer who later died by suicide. Gov. Greg Abbott has the sole power to schedule a special election to fill the seat for the remainder of the term, but he has yet to set a date or signal when that may happen.
The stakes are high for the district, which stretches from El Paso County to San Antonio and includes over two dozen mostly rural counties in West and South Texas. The 23rd District did close to $450 million in cattle and calf sales, fourth most among Texas congressional districts and 35th in the country, according to 2022 data from USDA. The district had over 515,000 cattle and calves.
One member of Congress alone has limited power in an emergency at the scale of the screwworm outbreak, and federal and state officials are mobilizing resources. And there are plenty of powerful members from West and South Texas who are engaged and able to ask questions directly to federal personnel.
But given the high-profile federal response and importance of the cattle industry to the district’s economy, the lack of a representative could hamper constituents’ ability to get information or be heard.
Absent a representative, both candidates to replace Gonzales are trying to convene ranchers, get information from the federal government and get information to people in the district — without the title of “Representative” next to their names that affords more information access.
When he was in office, Gonzales led the introduction of a House bill, cosponsored by the majority of the Texas delegation and included members of both parties, to establish a facility to grow sterile New World screwworm flies in areas at risk of infection — though the bill never received a vote.
Gonzales also launched a screwworm working group with federal personnel, state stakeholders and ranchers, and was on site when Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced a plan to eliminate New World screwworm last June.
USDA did break ground on a sterile fly facility in Edinburg in April, flanked by Republican Sen. John Cornyn and Republican U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz, but the facility is not yet operational, though Rollins has pledged to fasttrack its opening.
Brandon Herrera, a gun rights YouTuber who finished first in the Republican primary and then won the nomination for the district after Gonzales dropped his re-election bid, said he’s spoken to frustrated ranchers who have wanted more government engagement on the screwworm threat since last year. He said ranchers say federal officials had not given the issue high priority.
“This is something that ranchers in the district have been screaming from the rooftops since last year,” Herrera said in an interview. “They really haven’t had a lot of people engage. A lot of people that aren’t in their industry haven’t taken it very seriously.”
Herrera said he has lined up meetings with federal officials this week to relay farmers and ranchers’ suggestions, including accelerating testing for pesticides they can use. He wants to see the timeline for the sterile fly facility opening accelerated, sterile fly dispersal prioritized and EPA approval for certain pesticides that ranchers can use to preemptively combat screwworm, the latter of which he said has been slow going.
“We’re doing as much as we can without being in office,” Herrera said. “Just as a candidate, my hands are slightly tied, but I’m doing everything I can to try to see if we can solve this problem before anybody even takes the seat. We don’t have time to wait til January.”
Katy Padilla Stout, the Democratic nominee for the district, said the outbreak underscored the need for the yet uncalled special election.
Texas law gives the governor latitude to schedule emergency special elections, if he so chooses. For example, Abbott scheduled a June 30 special election in 2018 after Rep. Blake Farenthold resigned that April, citing disaster recovery from Hurricane Harvey as justification.
The governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment on whether the screwworm outbreak would affect the special election timeline.
Padilla Stout, who has called for a special election since Gonzales resigned, said the screwworm threat has increased her frustration.
“We have an emergency that is specifically in the district,” Padilla Stout said. “If this isn’t cause for calling a special election, I don’t know what is.”
Padilla Stout said if she were in office, she would be able to press officials on how quickly they can ramp up the sterile insect program and push for further investment.
The Democrat said she has connected with ranchers — her family has a ranch in South Texas — as well as federal elected officials about the threat and the response. But given congressional standards and courtesy practices, elected officials in neighboring districts can sometimes have a hard time getting localized data or assistance for people they do not represent.
Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, whose next-door district has already been affected by the quarantine zone, said he’s received daily updates from the federal government and hasn’t had any trouble getting information. As a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, Cuellar typically enjoys strong access to federal agencies.
Padilla Stout said ranchers want to see a robust, fully-funded sterile fly program and that she is concerned about the potential for considerable damage to the supply chain, from both producers to consumers. She also said having a U.S. representative in place would make getting the word out about what precautions people should take with livestock and pets easier and improve coordination.
“I think everybody is concerned that it’s not being addressed fully the way that it should, and that if there was a representative in Congress, perhaps their voices could be amplified a little bit more,” Padilla Stout said.
This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.