Picture Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Each day Beast/Getty
After months of a bitter major rematch between nine-term Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) and progressive lawyer Jessica Cisneros, the battle isn’t carried out but.
As of early Wednesday, neither candidate managed to interrupt 50 p.c within the major contest, the AP experiences. In Texas, if no candidate receives a majority of the vote, the highest two finishers in a major will compete head-to-head in a runoff. This 12 months’s runoff, which can characteristic Cuellar and Cisneros, who acquired 48 p.c and 47 p.c of the vote, respectively, will happen on Might 24. A 3rd candidate, Tannya Benavides, acquired 5 p.c.
Cuellar is among the most conservative Democrats in Congress and has drawn the ire of progressives for years. In 2020, Cisneros challenged the congressman however got here up quick by about 4 share factors within the Democratic major. However the 28-year-old lawyer was decided to present it one other shot in 2022, now armed with name-recognition, marketing campaign expertise, and backing from influential outdoors teams.
In January, her candidacy gained steam after Cuellar’s marketing campaign workplace and residential had been raided by the FBI as a part of an investigation into obvious enterprise dealings with Azerbaijan.
Cuellar stored a low profile within the weeks main as much as the election—making solely a handful of appearances and saying little concerning the FBI investigation that’s loomed over his candidacy. This month he skipped the district’s annual parade celebrating George Washington’s birthday, the place he had typically appeared with Home Democratic leaders to indicate off his D.C. clout. Cuellar has not been charged with a criminal offense.
Although bodily absent, his advertisements had been in all places. Some pummeled Cisneros, others touted his deep roots within the Laredo neighborhood.
Cisneros hit again with advertisements of her personal, suggesting Cuellar offered out to “non-public prisons, Kochs, and insurance coverage firms,” and calling herself the “underdog.” Cisneros’ marketing campaign additionally leaned into its main backers, bringing Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) to city to rally voters.
All through the race, Cisneros highlighted her roots within the space, telling tales of her household promoting steak plates on the highway to assist pay for well being care. However her homegrown heritage is up in opposition to the near-blanket presence of the Cuellar household all through the neighborhood.
The congressman is understood within the district for bringing funding and tasks to the world. His sister is a former tax assessor for the county and his brother at the moment serves because the county sheriff. “Cuellar” is mostly a reputation folks know, in a technique or one other.
The winner of the Democratic major won't have time to bask within the glow of victory.
Republicans, emboldened by the celebration’s beneficial properties with Latino voters in 2020, have had the district on their listing of potential pickups even earlier than the FBI got here knocking on Cuellar’s door. They hope any broken picture of Cuellar amid an FBI investigation or the advanced politics of a progressive in a mildly Democratic district may add to their probabilities to flip the seat into the GOP’s column.
The winner of the Republican major contest has not but been known as. The final election is Nov. 8.