FBI searches of Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar energize GOP candidates in South Texas race

Republicans have never held Texas’ 28th congressional district, a stretch of South Texas district long represented by Laredo Democrat Rep. Henry Cuellar. GOP candidates have tried only three times in the last decade to take it away from him. But now seven Republicans are vying for a shot at flipping the district — a feat the party believes it just might pull off as Cuellar finds himself the target of a federal criminal investigation and faces stiff competition from the left, including progressive immigration attorney Jessica Cisneros, who came close in 2020 to unseating the nine-term incumbent. If Cuellar wins the primary, he may still be under a cloud of suspicion after the FBI searched his home and campaign headquarters in January.

And if Cisneros wins, the Republicans say, it’s even better. She’s backed by left-wing politicians like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Republicans in the race are already labeling Cisneros as a socialist and “AOC 2.0.” “This seat is winnable,” said Steven Fowler, a former Air Force pilot who says he moved from the D.C. area back to Texas to run in the district to “stop this AOC girl from going to Congress.” “What if I jump in and beat her, and stop her?” Fowler said. “I’ll be a hero.” Fowler is one of two veterans running in the crowded GOP primary, which includes a former San Antonio police officer, a retired Wall Street investment banker-turned-rancher, and a former staffer for Sen. Ted Cruz. A grassroots activist from Laredo who ran against Cuellar in 2020 is running again, as well. And so is an activist who got his start in politics organizing “Trump trains.”