{"id":2254386,"date":"2024-05-28T15:54:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-28T19:54:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fate-of-embattled-cuellar-clan-in-south-texas-hinges-on-tuesdays-election\/"},"modified":"2024-05-28T15:57:46","modified_gmt":"2024-05-28T19:57:46","slug":"fate-of-embattled-cuellar-clan-in-south-texas-hinges-on-tuesdays-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fate-of-embattled-cuellar-clan-in-south-texas-hinges-on-tuesdays-election\/","title":{"rendered":"The future of the Cuellar family in South Texas rests on Tuesday&#8217;s election"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffate-of-embattled-cuellar-clan-in-south-texas-hinges-on-tuesdays-election%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2254386&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Cuellar family \u200din South Texas faces \u2062crucial elections as Rep. Henry Cuellar \u200cseeks re-election amidst controversy. FBI investigations,\u2064 indictments, \u200dand corruption allegations \u2064have clouded the \u2062family&#8217;s political prospects, raising doubts among \u200bvoters. The fate \u2062of the Cuellars hangs in the balance as residents decide on their continued political presence in the region. The Cuellar family in South Texas is at a \u200dcritical juncture as Rep.\u2062 Henry Cuellar vies for re-election amid significant controversy. FBI\u2063 probes, legal charges, and\u2063 allegations \u200bof corruption\u2064 have cast shadows over \u2062their political future, leading to uncertainty among the electorate. The \u2062<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/donald-trump-and-ron-desantis-face-off-for-evangelical-votes-washington-photos-of-the-week\/\" title=\"Trump and DeSantis vie for evangelical support: Weekly Washington snapshots.\">upcoming\u200c elections<\/a> \u2063will determine the Cuellars&#8217; political trajectory in the region.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The fate of the Cuellar clan hangs in the balance Tuesday as South Texas residents head to the polls to determine if the embattled <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/democrats\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Democratic<\/a> family deserves another shot in public office.<\/p>\n<p>Rep. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/henry-cuellar\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Henry Cuellar <\/a>(D-TX) is seeking an 11th term as a federal lawmaker representing the Laredo area on the U.S.-Mexico <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/border-crisis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>border<\/a>, but he could be the only one of his siblings to move forward to November after the others failed to secure at least half of primary voters in March. The congressman won his primary election by default earlier this spring because no one challenged him.<\/p>\n<p>The incumbent, his sister Rosie Cuellar, and his brother Martin Cuellar are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/op-ed-the-biden-administration-is-harassing-our-biggest-oil-producing-region\/\" title=\"Op-Ed: Biden Administration Targets Major Oil Region\">long-standing members<\/a> of the community who have seen support dwindle as the FBI investigates the family\u2019s business dealings.<\/p>\n<p>The FBI <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/629160\/fbi-conducts-court-authorized-search-at-rep-henry-cuellars-home-in-texas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>raided<\/a> Henry Cuellar\u2019s house and campaign headquarters in Laredo in January 2022 as part of an \u201congoing investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this month, Henry Cuellar and his wife, Imelda Cuellar, were indicted on 14 charges each by the federal government for allegedly accepting approximately $600,000 in bribes from an Azerbaijan government-controlled oil and gas company, as well as a bank in Mexico.<\/p>\n<p>The indictments, filed just weeks before the runoffs for his sister and brother, have put the family in a bind to convince voters to elect them amid serious allegations of corruption and abuse leveled by the U.S. attorney\u2019s office and in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.notus.org\/texas\/cuellar-family-webb-county\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>media reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Henry Cuellar rose to power in the state House in the 1980s and launched his federal House bid in the early 2000s. In his first congressional election, he lost in the first vote count and demanded a recount, in which officials found 500 more ballots that put him on top by 58 votes.<\/p>\n<p>In 2008, Martin Cuellar was voted Webb County sheriff by a mere <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2012\/10\/01\/video-webb-county-sheriffs-race\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>50 votes.<\/a> The Cuellar sheriff has fended off challengers throughout the years, but staff members have alleged that he forced them to donate money and campaign on the clock for the congressman during election years.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, the FBI searched the sheriff\u2019s office, according to local media <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kgns.tv\/2023\/06\/05\/fbi-agents-conduct-court-authorized-search-webb-county-sheriffs-office-building\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>reports<\/a>, though no charges have been filed.<\/p>\n<p>Former Webb County Sheriff\u2019s Department employee <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kgns.tv\/2023\/08\/03\/eduardo-wayo-ruiz-announces-candidacy-webb-county-sheriff\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Wayo Ruiz<\/a> is challenging Martin Cuellar on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>Rosie Cuellar was a tax assessor for Webb County from 2019 to 2020. She was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lmtonline.com\/local\/article\/former-laredo-municipal-judge-rosie-cuellar-takes-17757393.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>sworn in<\/a> as judge in the Rio Bravo early last year, though an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.notus.org\/texas\/cuellar-family-webb-county\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>investigation<\/a> by NOTUS concluded she has never heard a case and that the work she has done in the role remains unclear.<\/p>\n<p>She is now in a runoff for state House District 80, which includes nearby Uvalde, where a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers in May 2022.<\/p>\n<p>The Laredo region has benefited from Henry Cuellar\u2019s post in Congress. Henry Cuellar sits on the House Appropriations Committee, in which he has been able to bring millions of dollars in federal funding to projects in his district, where 1 in 5 residents lives below the poverty line, <a href=\"https:\/\/data.census.gov\/profile\/Webb_County,_Texas?g=050XX00US48479#income-and-poverty\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>according to<\/a> 2022 U.S. Census Bureau data.<\/p>\n<p>Henry Cuellar will learn by Tuesday evening who his Republican challenger will be ahead of the November election. Former naval officer Jay Furman and rancher Lazaro Garza are vying for the GOP nomination.<\/p>\n<p>The congressman defended his record amid the federal investigation and charges last week and called the charges \u201cpolitically motivated.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy brother Martin and my sister Rosie have served the Laredo community with honor and dignity,\u201d Henry Cuellar <a href=\"https:\/\/www.notus.org\/texas\/cuellar-family-webb-county\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"said\">said<\/a> in a statement. \u201cSouth Texas voters know my family\u2019s record and will see this for what it is \u2014 a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/four-things-to-watch-in-texas-runoff-primary-elections\/\" title=\"Key Points to Monitor in Texas Runoff Primaries\">partisan political hit job<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> reached out to the Cuellar family for comment.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Tuesday, the Cuellar clan&#8217;s destiny in South Texas will be decided at the polls. South Texas residents will determine the fate of the embattled Democratic family as Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) vies for an 11th term, representing the Laredo area on the U.S.-Mexico border<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2655,"featured_media":2254387,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/AP24136696574603-3.jpg.optimal.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2254386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/AP24136696574603-3.jpg.optimal.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2254386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2655"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2254386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2254386\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2254387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2254386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2254386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2254386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}