Sibling of embattled congressman secures victory in Texas primary

The political legacy of Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) and the rest of his family has been temporarily salvaged after one of his siblings won their respective primary elections in Texas, possibly giving hope to the incumbent Democrat as he fights for his own reelection in November.

Martin Cuellar won his runoff as he seeks reelection as the Webb County sheriff, defeating his former employee, Wayo Ruiz. Martin Cuellar garnered 57.35% of the vote compared to Ruiz’s 42.65%

However, Rosie Cuellar was defeated by Cecilia Castellano in the Democratic runoff for state House District 80, which includes the city of Uvalde, Texas. Castellano secured 57.9% of the vote, narrowly/handily defeating Rosie Cuellar with 42.1% of the vote.

His brother’s victory comes as Rep. Henry Cuellar is also set to appear on the November ballot after he won his March primary by default because no one challenged him.

However, he now faces some pushback from within his own party after he 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.

The indictments, filed just weeks before the runoffs for his sister and brother, 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’s office and in media reports.

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Henry Cuellar has defended his and his siblings’ record amid the federal investigation, decrying the charges as “politically motivated.”

“My brother Martin and my sister Rosie have served the Laredo community with honor and dignity,” Henry Cuellar said in a statement. “South Texas voters know my family’s record and will see this for what it is — a partisan political hit job.”