Texas runoff between last anti-abortion House Democrat and progressive challenger still too close to call


It's a nail-biter in Texas.
The Tuesday runoff contest between longtime incumbent Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) and progressive challenger Jessica Cisneros in Texas' 28th District is still too close to call as of Wednesday morning, NPR reports.
The more conservative Cuellar has held the seat since 2005, and boasts backing from a number of top House Democrats, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.). But Cisneros is endorsed by multiple prominent progressives, including Sens. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.).
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
As of roughly 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, the two candidates were separated by just 175 votes, with Cuellar in the lead. Despite such a narrow margin, Cuellar declared victory Tuesday night — though Cisneros declined to concede defeat. Mail-in ballots can still be counted until 5 p.m. on Wednesday, so more might come in, Forbes notes. Cisneros can also request a recount given the closeness of the race.
Important to note in the contest is the underlying issue of abortion rights, given Cuellar's status as the last anti-abortion Democrat, and the recent leak of a Supreme Court draft opinion poised to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.
-
Trump taps Fox News' Pirro for DC attorney post
speed read The president has named Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to be the top federal prosecutor for Washington, replacing acting US Attorney Ed Martin
-
Trump, UK's Starmer outline first post-tariff deal
speed read President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Kier Starmer struck a 'historic' agreement to eliminate some of the former's imposed tariffs
-
Fed leaves rates unchanged as Powell warns on tariffs
speed read The Federal Reserve says the risks of higher inflation and unemployment are increasing under Trump's tariffs
-
Denmark to grill US envoy on Greenland spying report
speed read The Trump administration ramped up spying on Greenland, says reporting by The Wall Street Journal
-
Supreme Court allows transgender troop ban
speed read The US Supreme Court will let the Trump administration begin executing its ban on transgender military service members
-
Hollywood confounded by Trump's film tariff idea
speed read President Trump proposed a '100% tariff' on movies 'produced in foreign lands'
-
Trump offers migrants $1,000 to 'self-deport'
speed read The Department of Homeland Security says undocumented immigrants can leave the US in a more 'dignified way'
-
Trump is not sure he must follow the Constitution
speed read When asked about due process for migrants in a TV interview, President Trump said he didn't know whether he had to uphold the Fifth Amendment