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‘Moderate’ Dem in tight Texas race says his priority after midterms is voting Pelosi back as Speaker

October 14, 2022 | | Print Article

A so-called “moderate” Democrat running for reelection in Texas recently announced that his first order of business upon being reelected to office will be to vote House Speaker Nancy Pelosi back into the speakership.

“My first vote is for Nancy Pelosi — no ifs, no but — but then after that, it’s my district,” Rep. Henry Cuellar said, as reported by Fox News.

That’s quite a tall order given as Democrats are not expected to keep the House. However, delusion has admittedly always been a Democrat strong suit.

(Source: RealClearPolitics)

According to Fox News, Cuellar’s a so-called “moderate” because he voted against the pro-abortion Women’s Health Protection Act and because he recently called out Vice President Kamala Harris for claiming the border is secure.

But according to his 2022 competitor, Republican nominee Cassy Garcia, he’s nothing but a Pelosi groupie whose entire existence is predicated on appeasing the far-left Democrat Party leader.

“Henry has been in office since I was in kindergarten. That’s a long time. He has lost touch with our community. And this is evidenced by the fact that he votes 95% of the time with Nancy Pelosi, whose San Francisco values do not align with those of South Texas,” Garcia told Fox News.

“The reality is that he has voted against infrastructure for the southern border, and that’s why the National Border Patrol Council is endorsing me and not him in this race,” she added.

She further claimed that her own voters have said they’re unhappy with him.

“They tell me he’s been there too long, and he says all the right things but has done nothing to secure our southern border,” she said.

In fairness to Cuellar, he does boast some moderate bona fides, such as his opposition to abortion. But by the same token, it seems his innate Democrat proclivities always manage to overwhelm him.

For instance, “While opposing abortion, Cuellar has been critical of Texas’ law passed last year that restricted abortions after roughly six weeks of pregnancy,” according to The Texas Tribune.

“He was especially critical of the law’s enforcement mechanism that encouraged and rewarded regular citizens to enforce the law through civil litigation. After Texas banned nearly all abortions after Roe v. Wade was overturned, he voted in support of a bill that would protect the right for a woman to cross state borders to seek the procedure where it’s still legal,” the Tribune reported earlier this month.

But on the other hand, he’s the only Democrat who voted against a bill that would have legalized abortion up until the moment of birth.

He’s enough of a so-called “moderate,” in fact, that some conservative PACs have been sending him money.

“Some of the newest and largest donors to his campaign are political action committees that primarily contribute to Republican candidates and support conservative causes,” according to the Tribune.

“This includes $4,000 from the Justice, Liberty and Freedom PAC, affiliated with former U.S. Rep. Ted Poe, R-Humble; $3,000 from a lobbying firm that has contributed to GOP Sens. Marco Rubio and Chuck Grassley and $2,900 from Build Our Future PAC, which has given handsomely to the political action committee for John Bolton, Trump’s national security adviser,” the Tribune notes.

In remarks to the Tribune, Cuellar portrayed himself as a centrist.

“I think people want us to govern from the center, whether we are Democrats or Republicans. I think people are getting tired of the extreme left and the extreme right,” he said.

That may be so, but Sen. Ted Cruz still says Garcia is the better choice. And he’d know. She previously worked as his aide.

“Republicans are going to retake the House and are going to retake the Senate, but what I am more personally excited about is South Texas is turning red,” he said while campaigning for her earlier this month, as reported by the Laredo Morning Times.

“I got to tell you that I know Cassy. Cassy and I have worked together for nearly a decade, and Cassy is smart, she is principled, she grew up in South Texas and is a product of South Texas. She is beloved throughout The Valley, she is hardworking, tenacious, she is a fighter,”  he added.

Regarding Cuellar, Cruz admitted that he likes the guy and further stressed that Texans don’t need another Pelosi puppet at the helm.

“I like Henry. Henry is a nice guy. Of the Texas Democrats, Henry is by far the best. But every two years Henry goes to Washington and the first vote that he casts is for Nancy Pelosi, and Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats seem to ram through policies that hurt Laredo, hurt South Texas and destroy your jobs and then hurt your families,” he said.

Vivek Saxena
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