Texas runoff a show of strength for progressive Democrats
Send a link to a friend
[March 02, 2022]
By Moira Warburton and Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Progressive Democrat
Jessica Cisneros' primary challenge to U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar
of Texas will go to a runoff, a show of strength by the party's left
that has invigorated its supporters but also raised concerns among some
analysts about her ability to win the seat in the November general
election.
The liberal Cisneros, 28, won enough votes according to projections by
the Associated Press to force a May 24 runoff in her second challenge to
Cuellar. He is in his 18th year representing a south Texas congressional
district that is heavily Hispanic and runs along the Rio Grande River.
Cuellar, 66, arguably is the House of Representatives' most conservative
Democrat, a leaning that served him well in his nine previous races.
He was unable to fully fend off absorb Cisneros' attacks on his voting
record, including opposition to an abortion rights bill and legislation
making it easier for workers to get union representation. She also
accused Cuellar of collaborating with Republicans last year on
"anti-immigration" bills.
Another Texas progressive, former Austin City Council member Greg Casar,
won his Democratic primary race for the 35th congressional district
covering San Antonio and parts of Austin.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/May/02/images/ads/current/guzzardo_lda022609.png)
He beat back three Democratic challengers and advances to the Nov. 8
election, where he will face a Republican opponent.
Progressive Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez brought her
star-power to a San Antonio rally in mid-February to boost Casar and
Cisneros, a lawyer and immigrant rights advocate.
The winner of the Cuellar-Cisneros runoff will then face Cassy Garcia,
who won the Republican primary and is sure to cast her rival as being
too liberal for the district that shares a long boundary with Mexico and
has been seeing record numbers of illegal border crossings by
immigrants.
Democrats currently hold a narrow 222-211 House majority.
With Democratic President Joe Biden's national approval holding at 43%
in this week's Reuters/Ipsos poll and inflation raging amid the
continuing coronavirus pandemic, Republicans are favored to win control
of the House in the Nov. 8 midterm elections.
The race for the 28th district seat already is shaping up to be a
premier battleground, as both parties fight for independent and
undecided voters.
PROGRESSIVES SEE A BELLWETHER
Progressives hope that Cisneros' performance in Texas, which is the
first state to hold a primary contest this election cycle, will
reverberate nationally.
"Coming out of the gate, Texas is going to set the tone for progressive
wins across the nation," Adrienne Bell, executive director of
progressive political action committee Brand New Congress, said in a
telephone interview before Tuesday's primary.
[to top of second column]
|
![](../images/030222pics/news_a61.jpg)
Congressional candidate Jessica Cisneros speaks to the media before
the "Get Out the Vote Rally" in San Antonio, Texas, U.S., February
12, 2022. REUTERS/Jordan Vonderhaar
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Mar/02/images/ads/current/2021_lda_Businessdirectory.png)
It is unclear whether revelations late in the campaign that FBI agents
searched Cuellar's home and campaign office was a contributing factor to
Cisneros' gains. He has denied any wrongdoing, and the FBI has not
released more information on the raid.
A slate of progressives are competing for House seats in primaries,
including in New York, California and Washington state. Progressives
also are on primary ballots for U.S. Senate races such as in
Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Ohio.
But for many Democrats, it is the 2018 midterms and its 41-seat pickup
in the House that serves as a preferred guidepost for 2022. While
progressive candidates were energized by a series of notable primary
wins, it was Democratic moderates who resonated with voters in highly
competitive races against Republicans in the November general elections
that year.
The district Cuellar and Cisneros are contesting has 71.6% of the
population identifying as Latino. It has a moderate-to-conservative
streak that for many fit with Cuellar's anti-abortion, policing and oil
and gas industry orientation.
Latinos in the district "tend to be much more conservative than, say,
the AOCs of the East Coast" on such flashpoint issues, said Mark Jones,
a political science professor at Rice University in Houston, referring
to Ocasio-Cortez.
As a result, he said that he would expect Republicans to "make a major
investment in the district" between now and November.
Democrats won the last two presidential races in the district, but so
did Republican George W. Bush in 2004.
Karlyn Bowman, public opinion analyst for the conservative-leaning
American Enterprise Institute, applauded Cuellar as "someone who has
paid attention to his district's needs."
But progressives, she added, "are not responding to their concerns about
inflation and ... immigration tensions."
In an interview with Reuters before Tuesday's primary, Cisneros pushed
back on the suggestion that her election would make the district more
competitive for Republicans.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Mar/02/images/ads/current/stclara_lda_SPONSOR_090519.png)
"If we continue doing the organizing that we're doing right now, we're
probably going to be what people generally consider a safe blue
(Democratic) district."
(Editing by Scott Malone, Aurora Ellis and Kim Coghill)
[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |