Cisneros calls out House Democratic leadership for supporting anti-abortion Cuellar

Democratic House challenger Jessica Cisneros has generally stayed silent about her party leadership’s endorsement of Rep. Henry Cuellar in their primary. But Cuellar’s staunch anti-abortion stance is giving Cisneros another opportunity to boost her profile. The progressive challenger on Wednesday called on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her lieutenants to withdraw their endorsement of Cuellar as part of the Democratic Party’s efforts to protect abortion rights. The party is looking into ways to enshrine abortion rights into law after POLITICO reported a draft majority Supreme Court opinion striking down Roe v. Wade. “I am calling on Democratic Party leadership to withdraw their support of Henry Cuellar who is the last anti-choice Democrat in the House,” Cisneros said in a statement on Wednesday. “With the House majority on the line, he could very much be the deciding vote on the future of our reproductive rights and we cannot afford to take that risk.”

Her statement came hours before Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) was set to rally in Laredo with Cuellar Wednesday evening, three weeks before the Democratic primary runoff for the South Texas district. Notably, Pelosi and other leaders also continued to support Cuellar after his home was raided by the FBI. Cisneros finished a point and a half behind Cuellar in the March primary, but neither reached majority support, triggering the one-on-one runoff. In the past, Cisneros has said she understands the responsibility of senior members of Congress like Pelosi is to support incumbents. But Cisneros, who has support from congressional progressives like Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), has also keyed in on health care and abortion as key differences between her and Cuellar, who last year voted against a House bill that would have put a nationwide right to abortion into law and counteracted Texas’ six-week abortion ban. The proposal failed in the Senate. “It’s called conscience,” Cuellar said after that vote. “Sometimes people vote because of political [reasons], they think this is a Democratic or Republican issue. To me, it’s a matter of conscience.” This week, Cuellar issued a statement about the draft Supreme Court opinion, saying Tuesday evening that while he has always opposed abortion, he disagrees with an outright ban that doesn’t feature exceptions for cases of rape, incest or danger to the parent’s life. Repealing Roe v. Wade would “further divide the country during these already divisive times,” Cuellar said, adding that he wants to wait until a final ruling is issued.