US Midterms 2026
Type two letters or more. Arrow keys move through the results, Enter opens one, Esc closes.
Henry Cuellar, a Democrat who has represented Texas's 28th congressional district since 2005 and briefly served as Texas secretary of state in 2001, seeks re-election in 2026 against Republican Tano Tijerina.
Live TruthIndex™ and prediction market consensus for races contested by Henry Cuellar.
Recent media coverage for Henry Cuellar.
Henry Cuellar’s TX-28 race is highlighted as a Republican-leaning district that has become less favorable for the GOP as money shifts away despite redistricting.
The explainer covers how the newly drawn congressional maps affect South Texas, including the Valley and districts like TX-28 and TX-35 (with changes to Hidalgo County components).
Our colleague Ryan Kelly has more on the voting records of these vulnerable Republicans, including how they may or may not have shifted from 2025.
In TX-28, Republicans canceled about $3 million in ad reservations for the final three weeks, shifting funds to neighboring districts (TX-15 and TX-34).
An article from The Progress (southtexasnews.com) discusses early voting starting Monday and outlines the ballot for U.S. House District 28, featuring candidates Tano E.
No story this week names this candidate.
Henry Cuellar was born on September 19, 1955, in Laredo, Texas, to Mexican-American parents; his father was born in Tamaulipas, Mexico, and his mother was a native of Zapata, Texas.
After graduating from J. W. Nixon High School in 1974, he earned an Associate of Arts from Laredo Community College and a Bachelor of Science in foreign service, cum laude, from Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service.
He went on to earn a Master of Arts in international trade from Texas A&M International University, a Juris Doctor from the University of Texas School of Law and a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin, and he completed a master's in defense and strategic studies at the Naval War College in 2025.
Cuellar opened his own law firm in Laredo in 1981, became a licensed customs broker in 1983 and taught international commercial law at Texas A&M International University from 1984 to 1986. He represented most of Laredo in the Texas House of Representatives from 1987 to 2001, and in 2001 Governor Rick Perry appointed him secretary of state of Texas, a post he held for just over nine months.
After losing a 2002 race against Republican Henry Bonilla in the 23rd district, Cuellar defeated incumbent Ciro Rodriguez by 58 votes in the 2004 Democratic primary for the 28th district and won the seat that November.
He defeated Jessica Cisneros in the 2020 and 2022 primaries, and in 2024 he beat Republican Jay Furman by a margin of just under 5%.
In May 2024 a federal grand jury indicted him on money laundering, bribery and conspiracy charges, and President Donald Trump pardoned him in December 2025 before the case went to trial.
Cuellar serves on the Committee on Appropriations and belongs to the Blue Dog Coalition and the New Democrat Coalition.
Henry Cuellar is seeking re-election in the 28th district, which is based in the Laredo area and stretches south to McAllen and north to Atascosa County. He was re-elected there with 52.8% of the vote in 2024, the same year Donald Trump won 54.8% in the district.
In the 2026 Democratic primary Cuellar won 58.1% of the vote, defeating physician Ricardo Villarreal and businessman Andrew Vantine.
In the November 3, 2026, general election he faces Republican Tano Tijerina, the Webb County judge since 2014, who won the Republican primary with 74.3% against businesswoman Eileen Day.
