Henry Cuellar
DIncumbentFEC H2TX23082
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Raised this cycle$3.0M
Cash on hand: $657K
2026 race
TX-28 — U.S. House
3 candidates on the November ballot. Incumbent: Henry Cuellar.
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See where these candidates stand — and who's funding them.
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How we got here · 2 earlier contests
Election held
Counting
Tuesday, November 3, 2026
Results appear here once a race is called and verified. Official returns from the Texas Secretary of State.
Make sure you can vote
Disclosed money in race
$8.6M
Candidate + outside spending. See finance breakdown below.
Incumbent
Currently in office
Challengers
Sorted by fundraising
Tano E. Tijerina
RChallengerFEC H6TX28124
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Raised this cycle$1.9M
Cash on hand: $113K
Marlón Durán
IChallengerFEC H6TX28108
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Raised this cycle$0
Cash on hand: $0
4 defeated candidates — show
Ricardo Villarreal
DDefeatedChallengerFEC H2TX21185
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Raised this cycle$68K
Cash on hand: $22K
Juan Esparza
RDefeatedChallengerFEC H6TX28082
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Raised this cycle$32K
Cash on hand: $0
Eileen Day
RDefeatedChallengerFEC H6TX28140
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Raised this cycle$0
Cash on hand: $0
Chaunce Andrew Vantine
DDefeatedChallengerFEC H6TX28132
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Raised this cycle$0
Cash on hand: $0
Local signal
Early read on TX-28 — U.S. House
A directional read on where this seat is trending, from the signals we have so far. This is an early scaffold — more inputs light up as coverage and constituent activity accrue.
Coverage tone · the matchup
Recent news coverage of the nominees heading to the general election.
Henry Cuellarmixed
0 pos15 neutral0 neg15 articles
Tano E. Tijerinaleans negative
0 pos5 neutral1 neg6 articles
A media signal, not a poll of the district.
Constituent stakes
No one here has staked a position on a tracked vote yet. As neighbors weigh in on /pressure campaigns, the district's lean will show up here.
Money in the race
Finance breakdown
Disclosed funding shaping this race — both the money candidates raise themselves and the outside spending dropped by independent groups. Issue-ad spending by 501(c)(4) groups is excluded; the FEC doesn't require disclosure of it. See the note below for details.
Candidate fundraising: FEC reports through October 14, 2026 · 2025–26 cycle
Total disclosed
$8.6M
Candidate fundraising + independent expenditures (FEC).
Candidate-direct (Schedule A)
$5.0M
Raised by candidate committees themselves.
Outside spending (Schedule E)
$3.6M
$195K for · $3.4M against
| Candidate | Raised directly | Outside for | Outside against | Net in corner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Tano E. Tijerina(R) − HMP $472K | $1.9M | — | $472K | $1.4M |
Henry Cuellar(D)incumbent + HMP $174K + NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $10K + THOMAS PAINE SOCIETY L.L.C. $10K − CLF $2.9M | $3.0M | $195K | $2.9M | $335K |
Marlón Durán(G) | $0 | — | — | $0 |
4 defeated candidates — show finances
| Candidate | Raised directly | Outside for | Outside against | Net in corner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Ricardo Villarreal(D)defeated | $68K | — | — | $68K |
Juan Esparza(R)defeated | $32K | — | — | $32K |
Eileen Day(R)defeated | $0 | — | — | $0 |
Chaunce Andrew Vantine(D)defeated | $0 | — | — | $0 |
Where the money comes from
In-state vs out-of-state
Share of each candidate's itemized individual contributions from donors inside TX versus the rest of the country. Excludes sub-$200 unitemized donations (no geography on file) and PAC money — see note below.
Tano E. Tijerina(R)54% in-state · $1.1M itemized
$614K in-state$513K out-of-state
Henry Cuellar(D)50% in-state · $1.2M itemized
$588K in-state$577K out-of-state
2 defeated candidates — show
Ricardo Villarreal(D)defeated90% in-state · $5K itemized
$4K in-state$500 out-of-state
Juan Esparza(R)defeated100% in-state · $1K itemized
$1K in-state$0 out-of-state
What's counted, what isn't
Candidate-direct is each campaign's reported receipts on FEC Schedule A — individual contributions plus PAC contributions to the candidate's own committee — through the most recent filing.
Outside spending is independent expenditures on FEC Schedule E: money spent by PACs, super PACs, and party committees for or against a candidate, without legal coordination with the campaign. The committees listed under each candidate are the largest disclosed spenders on either side.
In-state vs out-of-state covers only itemized individual contributions — donations over $200, which are the only ones that carry a contributor address at the FEC. Sub-$200 unitemized donations (often a large share for grassroots campaigns) have no geography on file and are excluded, as is PAC money. So the percentages describe where a candidate's itemized individual money comes from, not where every dollar raised comes from.
Not counted: 501(c)(4) "social welfare" organizations run issue ads that frequently mention candidates by name but aren't classified as express advocacy under FEC rules — they file no Schedule E and don't appear in this breakdown. Press reporting on a race may cite figures that include this dark-money spending; ours doesn't.
Where they stand
Issue-by-issue comparison
Positions extracted from each candidate's campaign issues page by AI. Contested rows — where candidates disagree with each other — appear first.
| Statement | Cuellar | Tijerina | Duran | You |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Immigration The U.S. should do more to enforce immigration laws and secure the border. | — | |||
Digital Assets Cryptocurrency exchanges and tokens should be regulated under a dedicated digital-asset framework rather than existing securities law (CLARITY Act-style). | — | |||
Digital Assets Individuals’ right to self-custody cryptocurrency without intermediary reporting should be protected by federal law. | — | |||
Foreign Policy Conditions on U.S. military aid to Israel — tied to humanitarian or human-rights compliance — should be strengthened. | — | |||
Trade U.S. trade policy should reduce economic interdependence with China, especially on technology and critical minerals. | — |
SupportsOpposesNo public positionRinged = confirmed by the campaign
Recent coverage
In the news
Tano E. Tijerina
- https://nypost.com/2026/11/04/us-news/henry-cuellar-texas-democrat-pardoned-by-trump-wins-12th-house-term/New York PostNov 4
- https://www.npr.org/2026/11/03/g-s1-151305/2026-midterms-house-races-to-watchNPRNov 3
- Why some Texas Democrats are forecasting aCBS NewsNov 2
- Texas redistricting may backfire — and take out some rising Latino GOP starsAnchorage Daily NewsOct 20
About this race page
Candidate roster is sourced from the FEC's active-candidate list for the 2026 cycle. Fundraising totals reflect committee filings through the last reporting period.
Alignment % compares the candidate's extracted policy positions against your quiz answers. Positions are pulled from the candidate's campaign issues page by AI; we save the source quote for each position so you can verify the extraction. Candidates without a campaign issues page show position data pending — we're working through the roster and re-checking stale extractions every 90 days.
News coverage is from the GDELT 2.0 global news feed, filtered to a curated list of national, political, and regional outlets.