Jessica Cisneros is not done: How taking on a political machine transformed South Texas
Four months after running for Congress, Jessica Cisneros has settled into a different routine. Instead of knocking doors, she is drafting motions and affidavits as an immigration attorney. Instead of dialing voters, she is on the phone with clients and other attorneys to discuss strategy. Instead of organizing a listening tour across her district, she is helping design plans to improve Census outreach in South Texas.
Though her setting has shifted from the campaign trail to a virtual courtroom, Cisneros’ goal remains the same: deliver justice and hope to her community.
A 26-year-old Latina from the border — a fronteriza — Cisneros was never supposed to challenge a 15-year incumbent. She was not meant to come shockingly close to ousting one of the most conservative Democrats in the U.S. House — that’s not the political playbook authored by the Democratic establishment. And yet, Jessica Cisneros, a human rights attorney and daughter of Mexican immigrants, came within 3,000 votes of becoming the youngest woman elected to Congress in American history.
The incumbent, Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar, has represented a significant portion of South Texas — a sweeping district running from south San Antonio to his hometown of Laredo to Mission along the U.S.-Mexico border — since 2005 without any serious challenges before Cisneros. A self-proclaimed conservative in a Democratic stronghold, Cuellar once advocated that more Democrats embrace moderate conservatism, and consistently voted with President Donald Trump nearly 70 percent of the time in a district that Trump lost by almost 20 points — signifying a misalignment between Cuellar’s voting record and the values of the district. Before Cuellar, parts of South Texas and Laredo were represented by Republican Rep. Henry Bonilla since 1997.
Read more: https://texassignal.com/jessica-cisneros-is-not-done-how-taking-on-a-political-machine-transformed-south-texas/
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