Henry Cuellar Donation from Family of Zetas Cartel Conduit Could Be Liability

Texas’s 28th congressional district is the site of one of the most closely watched House races this cycle. The heavily Latino area, which covers a long stretch of the Lone Star State’s southern border, was traditionally a reliably blue voting bloc. Its Democratic incumbent, Henry Cuellar, has represented the district in Congress since 2005. But as South Texas has shifted rightward, Cuellar’s political future looks increasingly uncertain. Like many Texas border communities, the 95 percent Latino electorate in Webb County — the largest county in South Texas, where Cuellar’s home of Laredo is situated — shifted toward Republicans by double-digit margins from 2016 to 2020. This cycle, Cook Political Report gives TX-28 a three-point Democratic advantage — far from safe-blue in a red-wave year.

Cuellar is a skilled retail politician and has tried to remain in step with his district’s relatively conservative voter base by distancing himself from the national Democratic Party’s leftward lurch. He is currently ranked as the most conservative Democrat in the U.S. House and was the only Democrat in the lower chamber to vote against the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would have effectively legalized abortion through all nine months of pregnancy nationwide. While Cuellar over-performed Biden’s showing in TX-28 by a whopping 15 points in 2020, his positioning has also come at a cost: The congressman is a frequent target of progressive ire, and he only narrowly survived a primary challenge from his left earlier this year.

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Nate Hochman

Nate Hochman was a staff writer at National Review.

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Texas’s 28th congressional district is the site of one of the most closely watched House races this cycle. The heavily Latino area, which covers a long stretch of the Lone Star State’s southern border, was traditionally a reliably blue voting bloc. Its Democratic incumbent, Henry Cuellar, has represented the district in Congress since 2005. But as South Texas has shifted rightward, Cuellar’s political future looks increasingly uncertain. Like many Texas border communities, the 95 percent Latino electorate in Webb County — the largest county in South Texas, where Cuellar’s home of Laredo is situated — shifted toward Republicans by double-digit margins from 2016 to 2020. This cycle, Cook Political Report gives TX-28 a three-point Democratic advantage — far from safe-blue in a red-wave year.

Cuellar is a skilled retail politician and has tried to remain in step with his district’s relatively conservative voter base by distancing himself from the national Democratic Party’s leftward lurch. He is currently ranked as the most conservative Democrat in the U.S. House and was the only Democrat in the lower chamber to vote against the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would have effectively legalized abortion through all nine months of pregnancy nationwide. While Cuellar over-performed Biden’s showing in TX-28 by a whopping 15 points in 2020, his positioning has also come at a cost: The congressman is a frequent target of progressive ire, and he only narrowly survived a primary challenge from his left earlier this year.