Republicans are fighting to flip Rep. Henry Cuellar’s (D-TX) seat come November, but the GOP’s recruit may have a more liberal record than the incumbent.
Trump-endorsed Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina may have to explain his record as a former Democrat as he runs in one of the most competitive seats in the country. Tijerina was a countywide elected Democrat until he switched parties in December 2024, following Trump’s massive wins across the Texas borderland.
“Over the years, I’ve watched the Democratic Party shift further and further to the Left and leaving the values that I hold dear to my heart,” Tijerina said during an interview on Fox & Friends in 2024. “I’ve always been a conservative, and the radicalization of the national Democrats pushed me away a long time ago.”
Tijerina’s public record may present vulnerabilities with Trump-aligned voters. As a Democrat, he defended election officials following a recount discrepancy involving roughly 300 ballots in Cuellar’s 2024 reelection race. He also prioritized expanding access to voting ahead of the 2022 elections, even as Texas Republicans were tightening voter integrity rules statewide.
Tijerina also embraced Biden-era lockdown policies at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. As Webb County judge, a position equivalent to the county’s chief executive officer, Tijerina implemented mask mandates for government offices despite GOP Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order prohibiting state and local government entities from requiring masks.
Tijerina’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment from the Washington Examiner.
Cuellar, who has served in office since 2005, is a longtime Democratic officeholder. He’s held on to his seat, which spans a portion of the Texas-Mexico border, even as the region has shifted strongly from Democratic to Republican between 2016 and 2024.
Democrats hope that Tijerina’s history as a Democrat will be enough to turn off Trump voters this November.
“Everyone who meets Tano Tijerina knows that he has the depth and integrity of a kiddie pool,” Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Spokesperson Madison Andrus told the Washington Examiner. “He lacks the spine to take a stand and moves whichever way he thinks the political winds blow at that moment – Texans can’t trust him and they deserve better than a shallow opportunist using their communities as a career stepping stone.”
Republicans believe that Tijerina’s background as a former Democrat will resonate with voters in a region where many have left the party over its shift to the Left.
“Like many hardworking Americans, Judge Tano didn’t leave the Democrat party; the Democrat party left him,” National Republican Congressional Committee Spokesman Reilly Richardson told the Washington Examiner. “Like Tano, voters in South Texas and across the country are rejecting the Democrats’ radical, far-left brand and flocking to the Republican Party in droves.”
Cuellar will have his own history to contend with in the race, however. The centrist Democrat and his wife were indicted in 2024 for allegedly accepting bribes from individuals linked to the Azerbaijan government and a Mexican bank in exchange for pushing policies preferential to both. The Cuellars were pardoned by Trump in December 2025.
Despite the pardon, Cuellar has resisted entreaties to switch parties and earned the ire of Trump.
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“Tano Tijerina’s record speaks for itself—he’s a political flip-flopper and voters can’t trust him,” a Democratic operative told the Washington Examiner. “The irony is that even Trump recognized the strength of Henry Cuellar, trying to recruit him to run as a Republican because of his authenticity, local standing, and proven ability to win in this district.”
Texas will be a high-profile state in the 2026 midterm elections. It has the first primary of the year and is one of several states deeply entrenched in the redistricting battle.