August 12, 2006
Will Cuellar have a challenger?

Rep. Henry Cuellar visited Hidalgo County late last week to meet and greet with the new constituents of CD28, and to maybe stave off a strong challenge from someone there who doesn't want to be represented by a Laredoan.


Come next year, District 28, which he now represents, will include all of Starr County and parts of Hidalgo County as well.

"I actually asked for this area, so I hope I can represent this area for a long time," says Cuellar.

But local democratic leaders have other ideas for the district, including a candidate's who's homegrown.

Hidalgo County's Democratic Party chairman Juan Maldonado tells Action 4 News he's narrowed the list of potential challengers to just two.

370th District Court Judge Noe Gonzalez and 13th Court of Appeals Judge Linda Yanez.

"Why is it important to have a local candidate? Two reasons. Because local of course means having them close to us and representing us directly. But more than that Henry Cuellar is a Republican. He's running as a Democrat, but he is Republican," says Maldonado.


Why might Maldonado feel that way about Cuellar? This might explain it.

The so-called "aggressive" congressman says he gets so much done because he is non-partisan.

In fact, Cuellar endorsed George W. Bush in 2000, and after that, Gov. Rick Perry against fellow Laredo leader Tony Sanchez.

Seventy percent of the time, he said, he votes Democrat.

"I’m Democratic but my loyalty is to my district, not to my party," he said.


Seventy percent isn't very much these days, given the parliamentary style of Congress. And it's not so much the number of times he votes with the Republicans but the bills on which he jumps ship. The bankruptcy bill, for one. (To be fair, he's not alone on that score. Chet Edwards and Al Green have some explaining to do, too.)

Having said that, a review of Cuellar's record, when he's not cozying up to Rick Perry and George Bush, isn't that bad. He did some good things in the State House, such as author the CHIP bill, and he's talking sensibly about immigration. But let's just say he's going to be viewed with suspicion for some time to come.


Cuellar says he intends to do his best to represent the Valley and its interest, but tells us he's confident he'll win ... with or without its support.

"When you look at the numbers that are produced here, there was 9,600 the last non-presidential election, precinct by precinct in this part of Hidalgo County. Webb County produced over 40,000 ... that's almost four to one," says Cuellar.


If those 9600 help keep Cuellar from getting too far out of line, I'll be satisfied. Mostly, anyway. Thanks to Jeff N. and South Texas Chisme for the links.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on August 12, 2006 to Election 2006 | TrackBack
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