- Henry Cuellar (D-TX) was indicted on federal bribery charges in May 2024 — accused of accepting bribes from Mexican bank and government officials — yet still won his 2024 Democratic primary by 175 votes against progressive challenger Jessica Cisneros.
- TX-28 covers Laredo and the Rio Grande Valley — one of the most conservative-leaning Hispanic districts in Texas, where Cuellar's centrist positions on border security and energy have historically made him one of the most Republican-crossing Democrats in Congress.
- He is one of the last anti-abortion Democrats in Congress — voting against federal abortion protections — a position that drew fierce criticism and primary challenges but has been core to his survival in a majority-Hispanic district with traditional Catholic values.
- Cuellar served on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security — giving him unusual influence over border policy, Customs and Border Protection funding, and immigration enforcement budgets for his border district.
Biography
Henry Roberto Cuellar was born on September 19, 1955, in Laredo, Texas, the son of migrant farmworker parents. His background — a working-class family on the Texas-Mexico border, his father picking crops across the Southwest — is the origin story of one of the most politically complex careers in the Texas Democratic Party. He earned multiple advanced degrees including a JD from the University of Texas and a PhD in international trade from Texas A&M International University, and built a career as an attorney and state legislator before winning the congressional seat in TX-28 in 2004.
Cuellar served in the Texas House of Representatives from 1987 to 2001 and as Texas Secretary of State in 2001. He won the congressional seat in 2004 in a Democratic primary runoff against incumbent Ciro Rodriguez — a victory that was itself controversial and involved a disputed vote count. He has held the seat continuously since 2005 and built a record as one of the most conservative Democrats in the House: he has frequently broken with his party on abortion (he is one of the few Democratic members who opposes abortion polling), gun polling, border security, and fiscal policy. This positioning allowed him to survive in a competitive district as Texas trended Republican, but also made him a target for progressive primary challengers who argued he was incompatible with Democratic values.
In January 2022, federal agents searched Cuellar’s home and campaign office in Laredo. In May 2024, he and his wife Imelda were indicted on federal charges including bribery, money laundering, and acting as unregistered agents of the government of Azerbaijan and of a Mexican bank. The indictment alleged that Cuellar had performed official acts — including attempting to influence US policy — in exchange for payments totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars. Cuellar denied the charges and refused calls to resign from his seat or from his 2024 re-election race. He lost the November 2024 election, ending his two-decade congressional career under a federal indictment.
Key Policy Positions
Border Security & Immigration
Cuellar’s signature issue was border security, and his positions on immigration aligned far more closely with Republicans than with most House Democrats. Representing Laredo — one of the largest inland ports on the US-Mexico border — he advocated for robust border enforcement, physical barriers, and increased funding for Customs and Border Protection. He was a persistent critic of what he characterized as the Biden administration’s lax border management and supported legislation that would have significantly tightened asylum and entry rules. His border positions made him an uncomfortable fit within the Democratic caucus but gave him credibility in a district where many voters — including many Latino voters — supported stricter enforcement as essential to regional security and economic stability.
Abortion & Social Issues
Cuellar was one of the very few congressional Democrats who opposed abortion polling, positioning himself as a pro-life Democrat in a party that has moved toward treating abortion access as a non-negotiable core issue. His anti-abortion stance was consistent with the Catholic, socially conservative character of his Laredo-area constituency and was one of the primary targets of progressive challengers who argued he was incompatible with the Democratic Party’s platform. His position became more visible and controversial after the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision, which returned abortion regulation to the states. He was also generally more conservative than national Democrats on gun polling, though his district’s border-area character and high rates of gun ownership made this a pragmatic as well as ideological stance.
Trade & International Commerce
Laredo is one of the busiest land ports of entry in the world, handling an enormous share of US-Mexico trade, and Cuellar’s district’s economy is deeply intertwined with cross-border commerce. He was a consistent advocate for strong trade relationships with Mexico, NAFTA and its successor USMCA, and policies that would facilitate rather than restrict cross-border trade flows. He sat on the House Appropriations Committee and used that position to direct resources toward border infrastructure. His international trade background — reflected in his PhD in the subject — made him one of the more substantively informed members on trade policy. His alleged relationship with Azerbaijani energy interests, as described in the federal indictment, touches directly on his role as someone who worked on foreign affairs-adjacent issues.
Congressional Elections in TX-28
| Year | Context | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Primary vs. Jessica Cisneros | Won primary | Defeated first progressive challenge; held seat |
| 2022 | Primary vs. Cisneros (rematch) | Won by <300 votes | FBI had already searched his home; narrowest survive |
| 2024 | General vs. Jay Furman (R) | Lost | Ran under federal indictment; lost the seat |
Cuellar’s 2022 primary survival by fewer than 300 votes against a progressive challenger who had national support from AOC and other Squad members was one of the most dramatic near-upsets of that cycle. His subsequent federal indictment in 2024 and the loss of his seat ended a 20-year congressional career in controversy.
Federal Indictment & Political Legacy
The federal indictment of Henry and Imelda Cuellar in May 2024 was one of the most significant congressional corruption cases of the current era. The charges — bribery, money laundering, acting as unregistered foreign agents — alleged a scheme in which Cuellar used his official position to benefit the government of Azerbaijan and a Mexican financial institution in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments. The case highlighted the risks of long-serving members in border districts developing relationships with foreign governments and commercial interests that cross legal lines.
Cuellar denied all charges and called the indictment politically motivated. He ran for re-election regardless, and his defeat in November 2024 removed the question of whether he would continue to serve while under indictment. His case was pending trial as of early 2025.
His political legacy within the Democratic Party is contested. Supporters argue he demonstrated that Democrats could hold competitive border districts by taking pragmatic positions on immigration and cultural issues. Critics argue he was a Democratic incumbent in name only on many key issues, and that his long tenure reflected the capture of a congressional seat by local political machinery rather than genuine alignment with Democratic voters’ values. His near-defeat in 2022 and his loss in 2024 suggest the latter critique was gaining ground even before the indictment.
