In a massive admission of defeat, a key Republican super PAC is abandoning efforts to knock off what had been a prize House seat that Texas Republicans specifically redrew to allow themselves to flip it this cycle.
According to Punchbowl News' Jake Sherman, the Congressional Leadership Fund "is abandoning its efforts to oust" Rep. Henry Cuellar, a conservative Democrat who represents a heavily-Latino South Texas district. "They are pulling millions of dollars in ads and redirecting the spending elsewhere. This is a stunning move since Republicans drew this seat to boost GOP prospects in November."
Additionally, Sherman noted, the GOP candidate, Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina, "was a prized Republican recruit."
The district is one of five redrawn in the controversial Trump-endorsed Texas mid-decade gerrymander to be more Republican-leaning.
Despite this, some election experts noted that Republicans' plan to redraw this district was flawed from the start and based on a misreading of the data.
"Periodic reminder that the GOP gerrymander of Cuellar’s seat was possibly the DUMBEST redraw I’d ever seen," wrote election data analyst Ethan Chen on X. "On paper, it got redder. In practice, by replacing San Antonio w/ rural Latinos, it got BLUER downballot. Idk why Rs even bothered — Cuellar was NEVER going to lose this."
Cuellar, a popular incumbent who routinely gets a much larger share of the vote than statewide Democrats do in his district, has made a particular enemy of President Donald Trump.
In 2024, the congressman was indicted on allegations of taking $600,000 in bribes from a bank owned by the Azeri government. Trump pardoned him at the end of last year, and made clear he believed in return for the pardon Cuellar would switch his affiliation to Republican, but Cuellar never did this, remaining loyal to the Democratic Party, and infuriating the president.
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