What Went Down During The May 24 Primary Elections

Going into tonight, Sarah, I was under the impression that Cuellar has a slight edge. He’s a conservative Democrat, yes, but there’s a reason why he’s been in office since 2005. He’s a conservative because it works down there! And it’s unclear whether South Texas — which swung red in 2020 — is ready to have a progressive representative like Cisneros. That said, Cisneros, and other groups aligned with her candidacy, attempted to paint this race as a referendum on how much voters care about abortion access. Cuellar has quite the reputation as an anti-abortion Democrat, but it’s not immediately clear how much that turned off voters in the district.

Additionally, what does it say about Texas’s 28th District that two candidates who are so different from each other still appeal to large swaths of the electorate? Politically speaking, is the 28th a really unique place?

We might very well not get a call tonight in Texas’s 28th District given how close the margin is, but let’s talk more about the dynamics in that race. Alex, you’ve been tracking the race closely, and we’ve talked a lot about how this is an establishment vs. progressive showdown, but what other issues are playing out in the 28th District?