As election results are tabulated, the results we have so far for Texas's 28th District suggest that Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar might win reelection — but only barely so. With 80% of the vote in, Cuellar only leads his challenger, Republican Jay Furman, by four percentage points.
If this trend continues, it would represent a marked shift to the right for the district, which stretches from San Antonio to the southernmost point of the Texas-Mexico border. In 2022, Cuellar sailed to reelection by 14 points. At the time, his overwhelming win was viewed as somewhat surprising since Cuellar's home and office were raided by the FBI in the week's before the 2022 primary election. Cuellar has long denied any wrongdoing.
It seems like Cuellar, who was first elected in 2004, might be able to hold onto his seat tonight. But he'll have to work for it. And — who knows — maybe winning by a narrow margin tonight will convince Cuellar to fall in line with his party more. Though he's a relatively reliable vote for the House Democratic Caucus, he's distanced himself from his more-liberal colleagues on a number of issues, including abortion. Notably, Cuellar is the only Democrat in the chamber who is anti-abortion. While his colleagues have called for federal protections for abortion, Cuellar has said that abortion-related policies should be left up to the states.
It's unclear how much of Cuellar's current vote margin is due to a rightward shift among Texas's voters who live along the state's southern border. It's also possible that Cuellar is suffering in the polls due to his own personal issues. He was indicted in May on charges of bribery and money laundering.
