Henry Cuellar And Vicente Gonzalez Betrayed Us Again

There was a line. They crossed it.

Congressman Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX34) blocked me on Facebook today. In all my years in Texas politics, Gonzalez is only the second Democrat to block me on social media. Oscar Longoria was the first, after I asked him why he kept licking Republicans’ boots.

The reason Gonzalez blocked me today was that I shamed him for his vote earlier. His and Henry Cuellar. I’m not sure if anyone else has noticed, but Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez have been voting almost perfectly in lock-step since Trump was elected. Sure, once we could say they were both Conservative Democrats, but Cuellar is much, much worse. Not anymore, their voting records this year are almost indistinguishable.

If you weren’t already aware, the vote that has my feathers ruffled is the vote that seven Democrats crossed the aisle today to vote with Republicans on and give ICE $10 billion more.

This comes just days after this viral video of ICE agents gassing American citizens:

Yesterday, we learned that ICE kidnapped a 5-year-old, whom school officials said they used as bait. The child may have been moved to Texas, and Congressman Joaquin Castro is personally out searching for him. We also learned yesterday that ICE officers murdered a detainee in a facility in El Paso.

And today, both Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez voted to give ICE an additional $10 billion.

Last month, both Cuellar and Gonzalez joined Republicans to vote on a bill to allow strip searches of minors.

Earlier this year, they voted to “thank ICE.”

Henry Cuellar’s brother was indicted on federal charges today.

Webb County Sheriff Martin Cuellar was indicted on federal fraud charges today. The timing raises serious questions, especially given the deep pattern of corruption surrounding the Cuellar political machine and Trump’s previous pardons of Henry Cuellar.

This is what deep, systematic, generational corruption looks like.

Otherwise, Cuellar has been silent in his response to this vote.

Then there is Vicente Gonzalez. Here is the statement he put out, after receiving some obvious blowback:

Gonzalez says a NO vote would have had “zero impact.” That’s a strange claim, considering ALL BUT SEVEN Democrats voted no.

Members from swing districts voted no. Members from border districts voted no. Members who understand FEMA, hurricanes, and disaster response voted no.

Vicente Gonzalez chose not to stand with them.

This was a moment where moral clarity was required. Both Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez failed.

Then he told one of his commenters that he’s playing chess.

Does he think his constituents are stupid? If he were “playing chess,” he would have stood with the caucus to force leverage. Or demanded a clean FEMA/Coast Guard package. Or publicly explained what he extracted in exchange. But he didn’t. He simply voted ‘yes.’ Then, he blocked anyone who shamed him for it.

That’s not chess.

Anyway, I was looking at the new maps on Dave’s Redistricting App, and considering that these maps were built on Trump’s 2024 win numbers (lol), there’s no way either one of them is in jeopardy of flipping red.

We’ll get into that plenty more before the election, but even last week, Karl Rove predicted the GOP is at risk of losing Texas. And I’ve had a theory for a very long time, that border districts are NOT actually moving right.

The “border isn’t actually moving right” theory.

The border isn’t actually moving right. Turnout is collapsing. Cycle after cycle, turnout in South Texas keeps dropping. That’s not a theory. That’s a fact. And when fewer people vote, especially in heavily Democratic, working-class, Latino districts, the result looks like a rightward shift, even when it isn’t one.

What’s really happening is disengagement.

People aren’t suddenly becoming Republicans. They’re staying home. And they’re staying home because their Democratic representatives keep voting like Republicans, talking like consultants, and governing like ICE apologists while insisting it’s all a “very clever strategy.”

If your representative votes with Republicans on ICE funding, praises the agency responsible for terrorizing your community, and joins GOP bills allowing strip searches of minors, that’s alienation.

And alienation suppresses turnout far more effectively than any Republican ad buy ever could.

Conservative Democrats don’t even adhere to the Texas Democratic Party platform, which should be the baseline for elected officials.

That’s why Lone Star Left endorsed Etienne Rosas. Unlike Vicente Gonzalez, he’ll vote to make sure the people have access to healthcare, clean water, livable wages, and affordable housing.

Henry Cuellar has primary challengers, too.

Two Democrats are running against Cuellar, Andrew Vantine and Ricardo Villareal. I haven’t looked into either. I’ll make it one of the races I do a deep dive on in the next few weeks. There is also an Independent running who is a progressive, which is a shame, because I think he might have had a better shot on the party ticket, Adriel Ventura Lopez.

There are two Republicans in this race, including Tano Tijerina, who was the Democratic Webb County judge, then he took all that dirty GOP money, now he’s a Republican, and he’s running for Congress.

Webb County, it’s where Laredo is, where the Pocahontas Peagent is, also the House Conservative Democrat Richard Raymond is from, and the district where Conservative Democrat Judith Zaffirini hails.

Are we to believe that it’s just a Conservative district?

In the last midterm elections, the turnout in Webb County as 31.24%, and that’s a failure of every Democrat elected there. Maybe they win by not GOTVing.

We’re not done.

Nueces County Democrats.

Over the last few weeks, the Nueces County Democratic Party has spent an awful lot of time promoting Vicente Gonzalez’s kickoff and events. Which is fine, they’re the party, they’re supposed to do that stuff. But during the primary season, they are supposed to keep an appearance of neutrality, but have yet to do the same for other opponents in that race.

When that power is used unevenly, it discourages challengers from running and voters from participating. People don’t disengage because they don’t care; they disengage because they’re told, implicitly, that their choices don’t matter.

Nueces County Democratic voters should know that their party chair elections are coming up in November, and these elections are critical. The chair decides how power is exercised during primaries. Who gets amplified, who gets ignored, and whether the party serves voters or incumbents.

If we want higher turnout, competitive races, and real accountability, neutrality is the foundation. And when county parties abandon it, they shouldn’t be surprised when voters stop showing up.

That’s why Lone Star Left is endorsing Connor Rice for Nueces County Democratic Party Chair.

So let’s be clear about what this is really about.

This is about two Democratic members of Congress, Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez, who have made it unmistakably clear, through pattern and practice, that they are willing to side with Republicans against their own caucus, their own platform, and their own constituents when it comes to state violence, immigrant communities, and basic human dignity.

They didn’t have to do this. They weren’t forced to do this. And nearly every other Democrat chose not to.

When the moment came, amid documented abuses, dead detainees, traumatized children, and mass public outrage, they chose the institution over the people. Again.

When representatives know they won’t be challenged, they stop listening. When county parties protect incumbents instead of voters, turnout collapses. When turnout collapses, we’re told the district is “conservative.” And the cycle repeats.

This is how rot sustains itself.

This has to be dealt with in the primary. Now.

Because if Democrats won’t hold their own accountable for funding ICE, praising ICE, enabling ICE, and dismissing their own base while doing it, then what, exactly, is the point of calling ourselves a party that stands for justice?

Cuellar and Gonzalez have made their choice.

If you live in their districts, go to the polls this primary season, and make yours.

• February 2, 2026: Last Day to Register to Vote

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