Democrat Texas House candidate Oziel Ochoa’s campaign sponsored a May Day event co-hosted by the Rio Grande Valley chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America.
Ochoa is challenging Republican State Rep. Janie Lopez for House District 37, a South Texas district covering Willacy County and portions of Cameron County.
Campaign finance records show Ochoa’s campaign made three $259 payments to La Union del Pueblo Entero, or LUPE, on May 4. The expenditures, totaling $777, were listed as advertising expenses for the first annual May Day Marcha del Pueblo (March of the People).
May Day, also known as International Workers’ Day, is an annual labor observance that has long been embraced by socialist and communist movements around the world.
The event took place two days earlier, on May 2, in Edinburg.
Organizers included LUPE, Texas Rising, the Rio Grande Valley American Federation of Teachers, the Rio Grande Valley Central Labor Council, South Texans for Reproductive Justice, Poder Latinx, and the Rio Grande Valley Democratic Socialists of America.
Ochoa was publicly recognized for his financial support, while RGV DSA was listed among the event’s organizers.
The involvement of the Democratic Socialists went beyond simply lending the group’s name to the event.
Video from the event showed marchers chanting, “DSA! DSA! DSA!”
RGV DSA promoted May Day with a graphic quoting from Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto: “workers of the world unite.”
The Rio Grande Valley DSA chapter has promoted other radical socialist rhetoric beyond the Marcha del Pueblo.
In one social media post, the organization shared a graphic declaring “Socialism Beats Fascism” that depicted a Border Patrol vehicle engulfed in flames.
In another, the organization celebrated the election of Democratic Socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani in New York City.
The chapter has also promoted LGBT activism, including a graphic declaring “trans is beautiful.”
Ochoa’s sponsorship comes as he seeks to unseat Lopez in November.
Texas Scorecard asked Ochoa’s campaign why it chose to financially support the event and whether Ochoa shares the political views of RGV DSA.
The campaign did not respond before publication.
