Scoop: House GOP adds Cuellar to list of 2024 targets
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Rep. Henry Cuellar. Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images.
House Republicans' campaign arm is adding Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) to the list of Democrats it plans to invest in unseating, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: Republicans had initially written off the Democratic-leaning South Texas seat, but his indictment on bribery charges last month has put it back into play.
Driving the news: In addition to Cuellar's seat, the National Republican Congressional Committee is targeting seats being vacated by retiring Reps. Annie Kuster (D-N.H.) and Kathy Manning (D-N.C.).
- That brings the total number of seats the NRCC is targeting to 40, according to a list first shared with Axios.
- Cuellar and Kuster's districts voted for President Biden in 2020 by 7 and 9 percentage points, respectively, while Manning's district was redrawn this cycle to be significantly more Republican leaning.
What they're saying: "Between open seats, indictments, a border crisis and a stagnant economy, Democrats are retreating and Republicans are charging forward to press our advantage," said NRCC Chairman Richard Hudson.
- "The NRCC will force Democrats to answer for their failures to make Americans' lives better from Texas to New Hampshire to my home state of North Carolina – that's how we will grow our majority."
The other side: "I look forward to a strong victory in November. My constituents know my work, and the results speak for themselves. That's why I was re-elected by an overwhelming margin with support from Democrats, Republicans, and Independents," Cuellar said in a statement.
- "South Texas voters couldn't care less who is or isn't an NRCC target. My constituents just want results," he added.
- Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Viet Shelton said: "This clickbait 'announcement' is a desperate attempt ... to divert attention away from their incumbents' disastrous record of failing to deliver for working families and to hide how terrible their recruits are."
The backdrop: The Justice Department charged Cuellar and his wife with accepting nearly $600,000 in bribes from an Azerbaijan-controlled oil and gas company and a Mexican bank.
- In exchange for the bribery payments, Cuellar agreed to push legislation and pressure executive branch officials with the aim of benefiting Azerbaijan and the Mexican bank, prosecutors allege.
- Cuellar faces 14 criminal counts, including bribery, wire fraud, money laundering and acting as a foreign agent, and is also under investigation by the House Ethics Committee.
- The Texas Democrat has said he is innocent and plans to run for re-election in November.
Zoom in: Retired Navy officer Jay Furman easily defeated rancher Lazaro Garza Jr. in a Republican primary runoff Tuesday, and will take on Cuellar in November.
- The NRCC's support could help alleviate Furman's severe cash deficit – he has raised just $195,000 compared to Cuellar's $1.9 million, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
- But Cuellar has been in tough scrapes before and come out on top: He narrowly defeated a progressive primary challenger then trounced his GOP opponent by double digits in 2022 after the FBI searched his home.
