TX-23: Screwworm outbreak hits vacant Texas congressional district, as leading candidates scramble to assist

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.




https://www.texastribune.org/2026/06/09/screwworm-texas-vacant-congressional-district-gonzales-herrera-padilla-stout/