Henry Cuellar ups commercial presence after Jessica Cisneros challenge Cisneros: Cuellar is trying to distract from issues with negative ads

Laredoans have received stacks of campaign mailers over the last few weeks as the primary candidates for the 28th Congressional District have kicked into high gear. Laredoans have received stacks of campaign mailers over the last few weeks as the primary candidates for the 28th Congressional District have kicked into high gear. Photo: Cuate Santos/Laredo Morning Times Photo: Cuate Santos/Laredo Morning Times Image 1 of / 21 Caption Close Henry Cuellar ups commercial presence after Jessica Cisneros challenge 1 / 21 Back to Gallery

From behind a steering wheel, primary season in Laredo seems pretty ordinary this year. There’s an average number of yard signs, the typical gaggle of supporters waving to cars 100 feet outside of polling stations and the occasional candidate at a busy intersection.

READ MORE: Webb Co. Sheriff Candidate defends past after Matin Cuellar claims he lied about arrest

The real difference is that this year that candidate is U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, who has not had a substantial opponent to fight since 2006.

Now in the throes of a challenge from the progressive, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez-approved Jessica Cisneros, Cuellar’s campaign has spent over $2.2 million this cycle and received outside support from political action committees such as the Voter Protection Project, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Koch-funded LIBRE Action and Americans for Prosperity.

And local voters would be hard-pressed not to notice, having received stacks of mailers and a deluge of ads across television, print, social media and radio.

Cuellar’s campaign will have knocked on over 100,000 doors across the 28th Congressional District by the time this article runs, according to Colin Strother, Cuellar’s campaign spokesperson.

Last weekend, in the middle of the busiest day of Washington’s Birthday Celebration, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, along with Chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee Nita Lowey, rallied a group of volunteers and supporters at Cuellar’s campaign headquarters.

“We want this to be not only a victory, but a resounding victory for Henry,” Pelosi said. “Every step you take, every door you knock, every call you make, will make that resounding victory possible.”

Cuellar has this support of the political establishment in Washington, D.C. and from officials throughout his district. His campaign touts the endorsements of over 200 local leaders across the nine counties he represents, plus Laredo’s Border Patrol, police officer and firefighter unions.

Laredo Mayor Pete Saenz said he is supporting Cuellar because he works hard, he follows through and he’s a moderate. The city needs someone who can work on both sides of the aisle, he said.

“As the mayor, I don’t really care where the money is coming from. Republican or Democrat, we need them both,” Saenz said.

Saenz added that he has not met Cisneros, but that he feels comfortable with Cuellar.

“Ultimately it’s the work he has done and his consistency,” the mayor said.

Former Webb County Democratic Party Chair Sergio Mora has been a longtime friend of Cuellar’s. Mora said he is definitely more liberal than the congressman and that he disagrees with on several issues, but that Cuellar’s focus is to produce for his district. He has delivered results, Mora said.

READ MORE: Jessica Cisneros nets endorsement from Bernie Sanders in primary battle against Henry Cuellar

His support for Cuellar in this election is pragmatic, Mora said. He met with Cisneros briefly and liked her; she seemed qualified, nice and charismatic, Mora said.

But this is Texas, and the 28th District encompasses significant swaths of rural, conservative areas, he said. Mora believes that affects a lot of the way this district votes.

In her first interview with Laredo Morning Times, Cisneros said people understand the 28th District to be conservative-leaning Democratic because Cuellar perpetuates this idea as their conservative Democratic representative.

Her campaign is taking a bet that Laredo, by virtue of its position on the border and among the most impoverished areas of Texas, will take to proposals such as Medicare for All, a $15 an hour minimum wage and the Green New Deal, which are all part of her platform.

This has led to innumerable national media outlets labeling Cisneros as the “next AOC.” And the Nation this week called her campaign the second-most important race for progressives this primary season. Cisneros has been endorsed by Ocasio-Cortez, progressive presidential candidates Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, the Texas’ largest labor union, the Texas AFL-CIO, Texas American Federation of Teachers and others.

Cuellar’s campaign argues that Cisneros’ progressive proposals will ruin the economy of the district. To end oil and gas production would devastate families and school districts, and without the USMCA, Laredo’s economy would collapse, Strother said. Cisneros tweeted in October that workers and labor groups should have a seat at the negotiating table for USMCA.

“Her ideas are really harmful to this community, and she doesn’t understand that because she hasn’t lived here as an adult,” Strother said.

This has been the prevailing message of the bulk of Cuellar’s attack ads — that Cisneros is an interloper who doesn’t know the district. Cisneros was born and raised in Laredo but went to college and then law school at the University of Texas. She then took a fellowship with a public defender group in New York before moving back to Laredo for the campaign.

One of the mailers going around shows a photo of a piece of “NYC pizza,” an “NYC bagel” and then a photo of Cisneros, labeled an “NYC candidate.” Another shows the image of what is meant to be Cisneros’ calendar from the month she announced her candidacy, adorned with scribblings such as “Yay law!” and “Run for Congress!”

Strother said if she really cared about her community, Cisneros would have moved back to Laredo after graduating from law school.

Cisneros said these attack ads are childish, infantilizing and a window into how Cuellar’s campaign views women. She noted that she has been doing immigrants’ rights work since 2012, representing families in San Antonio immigration courts and working with people in the Laredo detention center.

“For him to come up with lies to try to misrepresent my experience, it’s a desperate attempt to distract from the real issues,” she said.

READ MORE: Laredoans react to the Cisneros campaign announcement

Amber Avis, president of Webb County Young Democrats, used to be a big fan of Cuellar’s. But after the Justice Democrats, the group that backed Ocasio-Cortez, announced that they would be challenging Cuellar’s seat next, Avis started to look into his voting record and contributors to his campaign. She does not believe his voting record reflects the Democratic Party.

Then she learned that in 2018 and this year, Cuellar has been among the top recipients of campaign contributions from payday lenders and for-profit prisons.

“I keep learning more and more, and it makes my skin cringe,” Avis said.

Strother says Cuellar has never let a contribution of any size impact his decisions and that he votes for his district.

Cisneros has exceeded Avis’ expectations as a candidate. Cisneros wants the national media and the world to know what the issues are here, and she cares about the community, Avis said.

Kike Lobo, who represents Laredo on the board for Equality Texas, is also supporting Cisneros, citing a need for change. She is not a political insider and feels like “one of us,” Lobo said.

Although Cuellar voted for the Equality Act last year, Lobo said the congressman’s support of the LGBTQ community has not been enough of a priority.

Both candidates feel their opponent has been fixated on negative campaigning rather than self-promotion of their ideals. And both candidates indicated that throughout their time door-knocking, calling, raising money and shaking hands with voters, that they have felt validated by the feedback they have received.

But in spite of the outreach from both camps, plus a hefty amount of national media attention, early voting turnout in Webb County was low this year, with 20,253 votes representing a 15.2% turnout of registered voters. The 2016 and 2012 primaries turned out 16.4% and 16.6% of registered voters in Webb County, respectively.

This has been interpreted disparately among the public.

Mora believes that if Cisneros were running a successful campaign it would be reflected in a higher turnout. She is depending on a lot of young, first-time voters to come out to the polls, and Mora hasn’t seen that.

Avis thinks the low turnout is good for Cisneros, because it provides an insurgent opportunity to people who are voting for change.

READ MORE: Cuellar-Cisneros primary battle gets national spotlight on HBO show

Regardless, Tuesday will be the first litmus test in years to reveal the true ideology of this South Texas district.

Julia Wallace may be reached at 956-728-2543 or jwallace@lmtonline.com