Henry Cuellar Is Combating for His Political Life. His GOP Opponent Is Combating for a New One.

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Few Home races are messier than Texas’ twenty eighth Congressional District alongside the southern border.

It’s well-known that the congressman who has represented the district for simply shy of 20 years, Rep. Henry Cuellar, was indicted in Could for accepting overseas bribes and cash laundering.

It’s much less well-known that the Republican opponent tasked with toppling Cuellar, retired Navy Commander Jay Furman, appeared to lack documented ties to the district earlier than working for the seat — or that he admitted to picking to run within the district for overtly political causes.

“In fact, picking this district was to intentionally do so to try to provide a national platform to promote President Trump because he is going to be the one and singular person who can save us from this moment,” Furman mentioned throughout a Veterans for America First interview shortly after his marketing campaign launch in January.

The district Furman is working in has been a precedence for nationwide GOP teams previously, however this cycle, they’ve largely sat this race out, even after Cuellar’s indictments. Cuellar received his final election by 13 factors, regardless of an FBI raid of his dwelling proper earlier than ballots had been solid and regardless of going through a well-funded candidate with ties to the area. Furman, now going through scrutiny for his background, might not stand a lot of an opportunity.

Furman — who has beforehand owned property within the Austin space — informed the interviewer he moved again to Texas after serving at an obligation station hooked up to the Pentagon. (“It’s true when they say it’s a swamp,” Furman mentioned of his time close to Washington, D.C.)

Upon returning to Texas, Furman moved to the San Antonio space with the intention of singing Donald Trump’s praises on the marketing campaign path and hammering one of many GOP’s high points: border safety.

“We have to get a hold of this now,” Furman mentioned on the January occasion, referencing unlawful border crossings. “We can’t wait or this will be, probably, our end or demise, which is why I picked Texas 28.”

“I retired back to my home state in Texas, and here I picked to live in San Antonio,” he continued, “because Texas 28 is a border district and it’s been 110-year Democrat rule.”

Operating for workplace with a marketing campaign platform grounded in allegiance to Trump and border safety crackdowns is not any shock. Dozens of Home candidates — incumbents and first-time contenders — are deploying that very same technique, betting that animating the get together’s MAGA base with a crimson meat matter will ship wins. What’s completely different about Furman, nevertheless, is his confession that he selected the district to run in particularly to leverage these points.

It’s particularly noteworthy given Furman was not in need of harsh phrases for the district in February at a Take Our Border Again pep rally. (Satirically, the occasion happened in Dripping Springs close to Austin, nicely exterior the bounds of Furman’s potential district.)

“This is LBJ’s old district, 110-year Democrat rule, and it is the worst of the worst,” he mentioned, referencing unlawful border crossings. “It is a chink in our armor.”

“I am a Texan and I have always maintained my Texas resident status serving around the world in the U.S. military,” Furman informed NOTUS in a press release. “While I began my military career flying Blackhawks on the Texas border in a drug war, I now return home to find my state’s border completely broken and, of course, I want to help put it back together.”

“I endorsed former President Trump and support his proven solutions for everyday South Texans who prioritize God, traditional family, and patriotic sovereignty at our border, in our neighborhoods, our children’s schools, at the grocery store and the gas pump,” he added.

Whereas Furman acknowledged “picking” the district for political causes, he does have ties to the state at giant. He grew up in Texas and attended Texas A&M College, the place he obtained a Bachelor of Science diploma. In accordance with county data, Furman owned two properties close to Austin in a district represented by Rep. Michael McCaul from 2010 to 2022.

State data present that Furman additionally owns a house in Higher Marlboro, Maryland, which he bought in 2017. That property is listed as Furman’s “principal residence.” (Furman now lives in Common Metropolis, exterior of San Antonio, the place he’s registered to vote.)

In a March Fb video filmed in entrance of his Common Metropolis home at Randolph Air Power Base, Furman provided some rationalization about his residency.

“Sometimes a military member goes in front of the family, as I have retired back here to Texas,” he mentioned. “I have always been a Texas resident, but I have a son and a wife. He’s trying to finish up high school. She’s trying to help him. He is trying to finish at the same place. That’s real rare for us.”

It’s true that in Furman’s 28 years within the Navy, he was stationed world wide, together with in Africa and the Center East. Republicans backing Furman level to his Navy retirement as his alternative to decide on the place he desires to stay.

“As a Navy veteran, Jay Furman has always run towards the fight — first as he served our country, and now as he steps up to fix Democrats’ border mess,” Nationwide Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Delanie Bomar mentioned in a press release to NOTUS. “Attacking a Navy veteran who moved while serving his country is despicable.”

A former GOP get together chair in Webb County, Luis De La Garza, additionally informed NOTUS he thought the carpetbagging allegations had been misconstrued. “There’s a gentleman, who is from Texas, who went out, served his country, has come back and now wants to continue to serve his country,” De La Garza mentioned.

Nonetheless, what’s stunning about Furman’s resolution to run within the South Texas district is that he picked a race he’s more likely to lose — even after Cuellar’s indictments.

South Texas has remained a Democratic stronghold regardless of Republican makes an attempt to transform the realm’s voters. It’s unclear if Furman will make any headway.

Though Cuellar faces severe allegations, he has a historical past within the district and has amassed a huge political community that Furman doesn’t come near matching.

“From what I see on his ads, he’s a good-looking cowboy. He’s wearing the cowboy hat and he’s wearing the cowboy boots, and so he looks like the typical Texas rancher,” mentioned Sylvia Bruni, the Democratic chair for Webb County. “I don’t know anything that he’s ever done, certainly not in Webb County.”

The congressional district stretches as much as embrace suburbs of San Antonio, however the space round Laredo — in Webb County — is taken into account the anchor for the seat. It’s an insular world, and individuals are used to candidates who lived their whole lives within the space, or at the least a part of it. With out amassing assist in Laredo, successful an election in opposition to Cuellar could be an extended shot at greatest.

Furman hasn’t gotten a single donation from anybody itemizing a Laredo tackle, and a NOTUS evaluation discovered that solely two donors listed an tackle anyplace within the district, in keeping with FEC knowledge. Whereas the FEC knowledge is incomplete — small-dollar donations aren’t required to be itemized, for example — it could possibly point out the place candidates are discovering their strongest assist.

“I’m not wanting to be cruel or negative, it’s simply a fact. The facts are that, in Webb County, this gentleman is an unknown,” Bruni mentioned. “He’s never appeared before, until he launched his try for that congressional seat.”

However that doesn’t imply everybody within the district is in opposition to him.

“He’s not part of any political machine. He’s doing it on his own,” Alberto Olivares, who’s working for sheriff in Starr County as a Republican, informed NOTUS.

Even when Furman hasn’t been round a lot, Olivares mentioned he’s higher than a candidate who’s been federally indicted.

“It’s time for a refresh,” Olivares mentioned.

Disclosure: Fb and Texas A&M College have been monetary supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan information group that’s funded partly by donations from members, foundations and company sponsors. Monetary supporters play no position within the Tribune’s journalism. Discover a full checklist of them right here.

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