(New York) Texas Representative Henry Cueller is an exception in the House of Representatives’ Democratic group: he opposes the right to abortion.
Posted at 5:00 p.m.
Therefore, the 66-year-old elected official should not necessarily expect the support of his party leaders in the Democratic primary against Jessica Cisneros, a 28-year-old lawyer who has been fiercely defending this recognized right since 1973. In the United States. After all, Roy v. Wade.
However, in the second round of the primary on Tuesday, the Democratic staff in the House preferred Culler to Cisneros. And this, despite the fact that Cuellar recently voted against a text that Roe c intended to record. Wade into federal law.
How is this possible?
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told a news conference, “I support my outgoing representatives left and right.
Then, referring to the votes needed to pass a bill guaranteeing abortion, she clarified: ” [Cuellar] Not a positive choice, but we do not need him. ⁇
“But we need his seat to maintain our narrow majority in the House for the by-elections,” she added. ⁇
And there is no guarantee that a progressive candidate like Jessica Cisneros will win in November. This dilemma speaks volumes about the situation of Democrats in South Texas in general and the Henry Kల్లller constituency in particular.
The district, which includes part of San Antonio, extends as far as the Texas border with Mexico, and has long been a stronghold of the Democrats.
But many of his Hispanic voters, mostly Mexican immigration, were increasingly drawn to the Republican Party.
“More traditional” population
Juan Sepulveda, manager of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in Lone Star State in 2008, said: “At least in Texas, the predominantly Catholic Mexican-American population is more conservative.
“It affects his position on many issues, including abortion,” added the man, who now holds a management position at Trinity University in San Antonio.
However, Jessica Cisneros was not ashamed of not using the leaked Supreme Court document on Roy v. Wade used to recall his differences with Henry Cullar on abortion. So she wants to mobilize the most progressive voters in her constituency.
To achieve this goal, she also enlisted the help of some of the most prominent progressive election officials who have campaigned alongside her over the past few months, from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Elizabeth Warren to Bernie Saunders in the United States.
But according to Juan Sepulveda, the success of this strategy is uncertain.
“The reason is the realism of the voters in a particular riding,” he said. It may help around the boroughs in southern San Antonio. But the thing is, it’s a very small part of riding. Laredo is the biggest. ⁇
A frontier town with a population of 265,000, of which 95% are Hispanics, the birthplace and stronghold of Laredo Henry Kల్లller. There he founded his own law firm in 1981 before being elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1986 and then to the United States House of Representatives in 2004.
“His family is politically well connected,” said Juan Sepulveda. It plays a role in its popularity. Rep. If Kular wins the second round, he will be re-elected. ⁇
Immigration problem
Henry Cullar and Jessica Cisneros faced off a second time. In 2020, a second round of voting is also required to determine the winner, with the Democratic primary not allowing any candidate in the race to gain at least 50% of the vote in the first round.
In this second round, Cuellar won with 52% of the vote, followed by Cisneros with 48%.
In 2022, Henry Kల్లller looked even weaker. Last January, the FBI raided his home and his publicity office in Laredo as part of a covert investigation (and according to his lawyer he was not targeted).
But abortion is not the only theme that will survive the Democratic representative. Immigration is another.
The spokesman was particularly opposed to the repeal of Health Title “Title 42”, which authorizes the immediate removal of refugees or immigrants at the border on the pretext of COVID-19 (a judge in Louisiana last Friday prevented the Biden administration from ending the operation, as planned).
On the contrary, Jessica Cisneros argued that the rule should be repealed. The position was contested not only in the constituency in which she is contesting, but also in two other constituencies in South Texas, which the Democrats represent today, and may move to the opposition camp next November.
“We saw this specifically in the 2020 presidential election: issues surrounding immigration helped push many Mexican-Americans from South Texas into the Republican Party, especially men, for a variety of reasons. Property and territory, among others, highlighted Juan Sepulveda. The position of Delegate Kular, who is demanding from the Biden administration a plan to maintain the border before leaving, is likely to help him at the election level.
And how the “last” anti-abortion Democrat in the House of Representatives was able to retain that title after the midterm elections.