The Democratic Party of Texas announced the results of a recount in Tuesday’s race, finding Cuelar ahead by 289 votes.
Cisneros, who also lost to Cuelar in 2020, admitted on Tuesday, according to a statement from her campaign.
“We have always known that this is a difficult battle. “We were against a corrupt political machine funded by the Republican Super PAC, the Koch brothers, private prisons, Big Oil, the Chamber of Commerce, dark money groups, Big Pharma and almost the entire Democratic Party in Washington – and we still refused to back down.” Cisneros said in a statement.
“With this small difference, it’s clear that without their aggressive intervention in the lives of South Texas families, we would have won.”
The result is a blow to progressives and, more generally, Democrats, who support abortion rights and hope that anger at the Supreme Court’s draft ruling, which would remove Rowe against Wade, could bring the issue to the forefront this election cycle.
It also marks what many would consider a unlikely revival for Cuelar, whose political fate was called into question earlier this year before the primary, when the FBI searched his home and campaign office. In April, Cuelar’s lawyer said federal officials had told him his client was not under investigation.
Although he was killed for his stance against abortions by Cisneros and her allies, including the EMILY list, which invested very late in the race, Cuelar reappeared with the nomination in the South Texas region, which stretches south from San Antonio to the United States. Mexico border.
Cuelar, like other moderate Democrats in this year’s primary, is benefiting from a surge of foreign money and the support of party leaders in Washington. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, majority leader Stenny Hoyer and majority leader James Clayburn, who traveled to Texas to campaign for Cuelar, all stood with the congressman despite voter disappointment over abortion rights.
“The Democratic leadership has trampled on its own stated principles to bring Henry Cuelar to victory,” said Natalia Salgado, the federal affairs director of the Progressive Workers ‘Families, in a statement following Cisneros’ concession.
The run-off between Cuelar and Cisneros was their third – and with the final count now – the closest race. In 2020, it came less than 4 percentage points from his ouster. This March, in a tripartite primary, Cisneros finished second, rejecting Cuelar an absolute majority and paving the way for their decisive runoff – and another small loss.
This story has been updated with additional information.
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