Henry Cuellar

Biography

Overview

Henry Cuellar is a Democratic U.S. Representative from Texas's 28th Congressional District, serving since 2005. Based in Laredo, he represents a district stretching from the Rio Grande toward San Antonio suburbs. Before Congress, he served 14 years in the Texas House (1987-2001) and briefly as Texas Secretary of State in 2001, making him the most recent Democrat to hold that statewide office. Known as a centrist Democrat and one of the most conservative members of the House Democratic Caucus, Cuellar was first elected in 2004 after defeating incumbent Ciro Rodriguez in a primary upset by 58 votes. He has been reelected every general election since, though he has faced competitive primary races, notably against progressive challenger Jessica Cisneros in 2020 and 2022. In December 2025, President Donald Trump pardoned Cuellar following his May 2024 indictment on money laundering, bribery, and conspiracy charges related to alleged bribes from Azerbaijan and a Mexican bank.

Career

Cuellar has built a record of delivering federal resources to his district. Key achievements include: shepherding passage of the bipartisan infrastructure deal in 2021 (one of nine Democrats who threatened to boycott a procedural vote unless leadership allowed a vote on it); securing funding for a 2011 Veterans Administration outpatient clinic in Laredo; obtaining $1.2 million in federal COVID-19 relief for Webb County in 2020; and being a leading proponent of the San Antonio-to-Monterrey passenger rail project since 2008, including sponsoring feasibility studies. He authored legislation honoring slain ICE agent Jaime Zapata and has been prolific in using his Appropriations seat to become one of the top earmarkers in Congress. He voted for the Affordable Care Act in 2010 and the Respect for Marriage Act. However, his record includes controversial votes against abortion access and support for stricter immigration enforcement, including support for Kate's Law and opposition to sanctuary city funding.

Prior political experience

Cuellar was first elected to Congress in 2004 after defeating incumbent Ciro Rodriguez in a contentious primary by 58 votes—a race the Washington Post described as "nasty." The initial count showed Rodriguez ahead by 145 votes, but a recount gave Cuellar the victory, one of only two primary upsets of incumbents from either party nationally that year. Redistricting moved most of Laredo into the 28th district, which was far more Democratic than the 23rd where he had lost to Henry Bonilla 52%-47% in 2002. In 2004's general election, Cuellar defeated the Republican by 20 points. He defeated Rodriguez again in the 2006 primary with 52% and ran unopposed in the general election, winning with 68%. In 2008, Cuellar ran unopposed in the Democratic primary and won the general election with 70%, outpacing President Obama's 56% in the district. He ran unopposed in 2010 and 2014, and won comfortably in 2012 (68%) and 2016 (66.2%). In 2018, he was unopposed in the primary and won 84.4% in the general. In 2020, facing progressive challenger Jessica Cisneros with support from Justice Democrats, Cuellar won the primary narrowly 51.8%-48.2% and the general with 58.3%. In 2022, a rematch with Cisneros in the runoff was extremely close—Cuellar trailed by 281 votes before extending his lead to 289 votes after a recount. In 2024, Cuellar faced Republican newcomer Jay Furman and won by just under 5%, the closest general election of his congressional career, though Trump carried the district, making Cuellar one of only 13 Democrats to win in a Trump district.

Biographical material adapted from the Wikipedia article (retrieved April 29, 2026), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Ideology

Liberal–Conservative (DW-NOMINATE dim 1)

Liberal

Conservative

119th Congress-0.225

Secondary axis (DW-NOMINATE dim 2)(?)

−1

+1

+0.646

Source: Voteview DW-NOMINATE · 347 scored votes

Campaigns targeting Henry Cuellar

No active campaigns target Henry Cuellar right now.

Start a campaign targeting Henry Cuellar

Officeholding history

Term	Seat	Term dates	Termination	Predecessor	Successor
11th	U.S. House TX-28	2025–present	In progress	Henry Cuellar	—
10th	U.S. House TX-28	2023–2025	Term ended	Henry Cuellar	Henry Cuellar
9th	U.S. House TX-28	2021–2023	Term ended	Henry Cuellar	Henry Cuellar
8th	U.S. House TX-28	2019–2021	Term ended	Henry Cuellar	Henry Cuellar
7th	U.S. House TX-28	2017–2019	Term ended	Henry Cuellar	Henry Cuellar
6th	U.S. House TX-28	2015–2017	Term ended	Henry Cuellar	Henry Cuellar
5th	U.S. House TX-28	2013–2015	Term ended	Henry Cuellar	Henry Cuellar
4th	U.S. House TX-28	2011–2013	Term ended	Henry Cuellar	Henry Cuellar
3rd	U.S. House TX-28	2009–2011	Term ended	Henry Cuellar	Henry Cuellar
2nd	U.S. House TX-28	2007–2009	Term ended	Henry Cuellar	Henry Cuellar
1st	U.S. House TX-28	2005–2007	Term ended	—	Henry Cuellar

Committee assignments

Homeland Security
HouseRanking Member· 2025–present
Defense
House· 2025–present
Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies
House· 2025–present
House Committee on Appropriations
House· 2025–present

Current term legislation

Bills sponsored this term2

Bills cosponsored this term10

Elections

Year	Seat	Result	Vote share	Field
—	—	Pending	—	—