Overview
- Cuellar was declared the winner Tuesday night, securing another House term in Texas’ 28th Congressional District and keeping the seat in Democratic hands.
- Early tallies reported Cuellar with roughly two-thirds of the vote to Tano Tijerina’s roughly 30 percent with most ballots counted, giving him a decisive margin.
- The outcome comes after President Trump pardoned Henry Cuellar and his wife in December 2025, a move that closed the pending federal bribery and money‑laundering prosecution.
- Prosecutors had alleged the Cuellars accepted about $600,000 tied to an Azerbaijan-linked energy company and a Mexican bank, claims the couple denied as they campaigned.
- Republicans recruited local judge Tano Tijerina and national GOP leaders campaigned for him, but outside GOP groups cut late spending as polls showed Tijerina trailing, leaving the race a test of nationalized messaging versus local incumbency.