It’s AIPAC vs. Bernie Sanders in too-close-to-call Texas Democratic runoff

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WASHINGTON – Tuesday’s Democratic primary runoff in Texas’ 28th Congressional District is the latest battle between a pro-Israeli incumbent lawmaker and a progressive challenger who is critical of U.S. policy on the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

The runoff between Rep. Henry Cuellar and Jessica Cisneros also marks the latest fight between segmens of the U.S. Jewish community and pro-Israel organizations, as well as their associated super PACs, which are investing large sums of money in local races.

Cuellar, a 66-year-old moderate and long-standing ally of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, was among the first round of Democrats endorsed by its super PAC, the United Democracy Project, earlier this year. AIPAC’s super PAC has invested at least $1.8 million in the nine-term congressman’s campaign.

“The pro-Israel community will stand by its friends who support a strong U.S.-Israel relationship and confront those who are detractors of that relationship and would seek to undermine it,” said United Democracy Project spokesperson Patrick Dorton ahead of the vote.

The runoff comes after neither Cuellar nor Cisneros passed the 50-percent threshold in the March 1 primary (Cuellar received 48.4 percent of the vote, followed by Cisneros with 46.9 percent).

Progressive Democratic Congressional candidate Jessica Cisneros speaking with supporters after a campaign rally in San Antonio last week.Jordan Vonderhaar – AFP

The hotly contested race is a repeat of Cisneros’ unsuccessful 2020 challenge, when the 28-year-old immigration attorney centered her campaign on her rival’s policy interests, which she said did not reflect those of younger voters.

Sen. Bernie Sanders – who has stepped up his criticisms of AIPAC’s campaign tactics – has endorsed Cisneros for the second time in two years, campaigning and fundraising on her behalf. “They are doing everything they can to destroy the progressive movement in this country,” the Vermont senator said regarding the vast sums being injected into primary races.

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Cisneros rose to national prominence thanks to endorsements from organizations such as Justice Democrats and J Street‘s political action committee. The 2020 battle was widely considered a test case for the pro-Israel establishment’s strategy of opposing progressive upstarts, including significant endorsements and investments from groups like Democratic Majority for Israel and Pro-Israel America.

Cuellar received significant institutional support in 2020, including campaign events with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former Rep. Nita Lowey.

Rep. Henry Cuellar holding a San Antonio Spurs NBA basketball jersey after a rally in San Antonio earlier this month.Eric Gay/AP

This time around, Cisneros is not just focusing on Cuellar’s conservative positions on matters such as immigration, abortion rights, climate change and health care access. She is also targeting his alleged corruption and ties to big corporations, bolstered by the FBI’s raid on his home and campaign office earlier this year.

The Democratic leadership’s support of Cuellar has come under scrutiny following the recent leak of the draft Supreme Court opinion that would overturn the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide in 1972. Pelosi, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn and House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries have continued to endorse Cuellar, despite his status as the sole anti-choice Democrat in the House.

Cuellar, who is not Jewish, made headlines earlier this year as a co-founder of the Congressional Caucus for the Advancement of Torah Values, to “protect Torah values and freedom of religion, while fighting antisemitism and hatred.” He noted the caucus would be “committed to combating anti-Israel bigotry and protecting the Jewish community’s values and right to worship freely.”

Leading Jewish organizations roundly dismissed it as a misguided effort in the fight against antisemitism, though, criticizing its apparent disregard for the separation of church and state, and Cuellar’s lack of consultation with American-Jewish figures.

House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, left, and Rep. Henry Cuellar attending a campaign event in San Antonio earlier this month.Eric Gay/AP

Left-wing Jewish groups, meanwhile, have slammed Cuellar’s hawkish foreign policy, leading to the J Street Action Fund spending $200,000 in independent expenditures for Cisneros and against Cuellar – $125,000 of which came in the March primary and the remainder ahead of Tuesday’s runoff. It additionally raised $130,000 directly for Cisneros via J Street PAC. The organization’s director of communications, Logan Bayroff, said that it is “proud to do all [it] can to help elect Jessica Cisneros, a candidate who reflects the mainstream, principled views and values of most Democratic voters – on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, women’s rights, voting rights and so many other issues.”