A Progressive Tejana May Topple the King of Laredo. The Rest of the Nation Should Pay Attention.

Jessica Cisneros first entered the political scene in 2020 when she decided to run for Texas’ 28^th congressional district. She ran against Rep. Henry Cuellar, a 15-year incumbent and arguably the most powerful Texas Democrat in Congress. Cisneros is a human rights attorney and daughter of immigrants. Cuellar, the so-called “King of Laredo,” relied on the political establishment muscle behind him and stronger name recognition. This month, he faces his first run-off to Cisneros.

For some observers, Latinas are running uphill in a state like Texas, where Governor Greg Abbott continues the construction of the border wall as a state project and cracks down on undocumented migrants through his “catch and jail” policy.

But Latina candidates are seizing key shifts.

The Lone Star state is the second largest geographically after Alaska, racially diverse, increasingly urban, and becoming both younger and more progressive. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, about 40% of Texans are Latino. Texas has the largest Black population in the country, about 14% of the state’s total population. Add a growing percentage of Asians and a healthy mix of other groups and you have the rich, growing diversity that is setting up change in political leadership.

“Last March, the congressman eked out a 767-vote win over Cisneros but below the required 50% mark to avoid a run-off”

Overall, 14% of Texans are under the age of 30, a little higher than the national rate. In the 2020 presidential election, young Texans turned out in record numbers and voted overwhelmingly for President Biden. Of the nine counties in Cuellar’s district, five went for Sanders in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, indicating that progressive ideals are not anathema to Democrats in the region.

Cisneros lost the Democratic primary that year by only 4 percentage points — positioning her to make a second attempt to challenge Cuellar. Last March, the congressman eked out a 767-vote win over Cisneros but below the required 50% mark to avoid a run-off. That contest will take place on May 24th.

This tight race shows the ideological and geographic split among South Texas Democrats. The congressional district stretches from the edge of San Antonio to Laredo and to rural counties along the southern border. This cycle, Cisneros performed best in the northern reaches of the district that are the farthest from the border, beating Cuellar in Bexar County, which includes the liberal city of San Antonio.

In Bexar, Cisneros won 73% of the vote to Cuellar’s 21%. Newly redrawn Congressional district lines include San Antonio and that appeared to help Cisneros.

She also won in Guadalupe County, which consists of cities like Seguin, Kingsbury, Staples, New Berlin and Marion, with 74% to Cuellar’s 18%. However, Cisneros lost to Cuellar in Webb County, which included Laredo, and in the more rural areas closer to the border, such as Zapata and Starr Counties.

Progressives like Cisneros have been successful at getting people to talk about off-presidential cycle elections that voters tend to be less interested in. Should she win, she’ll be part of a surging progressive wave here that includes Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo in Houston and Rep. Greg Casar (D-35^th).

Whatever the outcome, Texas is fertile ground for a new chapter as Latina and Latino progressives march to the front to lead.