Cuellar, lone anti-abortion Democrat in House, faces third showdown with progressive Cisneros

Rep. Henry Cuellar, the long-time Laredo congressman backed by House leaders despite his status as the last Democratic opponent of abortion rights in the House, faces progressive challenger Jessica Cisneros for the third time Tuesday in a primary runoff in South Texas.

Cisneros, who turns 29 on Tuesday, nearly defeated Cuellar in 2020. This year, backed by Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and a long list of leading progressive organizations, Democratic women's groups and labor unions, she again came close, finishing less than two percentage points behind Cuellar in the March primary. Since neither candidate topped 50%, they advanced to Tuesday's head-to-head runoff to represent Texas' 28th Congressional District.