Abortion reveals Democratic fault lines in too-close-to-call Texas rematch

Reuters

Published May 24, 2022 06:20AM ET

Updated May 25, 2022 08:36AM ET

By Moira Warburton

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Centrist U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar was clinging to a razor-thin lead early on Wednesday against progressive challenger Jessica Cisneros in a high-profile south Texas Democratic primary battle that illustrated sharp dividing lines over immigration and abortion rights.

The election on Tuesday in a district along the U.S.-Mexico border was the third contest between Cuellar, who has held the seat since 2005, and Cisneros, a 28-year-old attorney who failed to unseat him in 2020 but forced him to a runoff in the state's March primary this year.

A tally by Edison Research showed Cuellar up by just 177 votes with 92% of the estimated vote counted. Major media outlets held off on calling the race.

Despite the slim margin, Cuellar declared victory. Cisneros, however, declined to concede, saying every ballot needed to be counted.

The race took on new urgency in recent weeks after a leaked Supreme Court opinion indicated that it could overturn a 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.

Cuellar, 66, is the lone House Democrat to oppose abortion rights, and abortion-rights groups have spent at least $160,000 to bolster Cisneros' campaign.

Cuellar has said that Cisneros would risk public safety and hurt the local economy by cutting law enforcement funding in a district where many voters work for border patrol agencies.

Cisneros has since distanced herself from her previous call to eliminate U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Political analysts have said that a Cisneros win could threaten Democrats' chances to hold the seat in the Nov. 8 election, when Republicans hope to win control of the House of Representatives.

But Cuellar's strength in the general election should not be a foregone conclusion, said Joshua Blank, research director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas in Austin.

"The reality is that Cisneros has come very close to unseating Cuellar twice at this point," Blank said. "If he can't defeat Cisneros, then I think the logic underlying that should come into question."

Cisneros has benefited from increased name recognition and an FBI investigation that saw raids on Cuellar's home and office.

Financial disclosures on Friday showed she has out-raised him by almost $1.4 million, and has around $400,000 more cash on hand than Cuellar.