A few posts down you can read about Ciro Rodriguez' solid record as a Democrat when he was in Congress. Here's a look, on the issues, at
Henry Cuellar's record from Texas blog Burnt Orange Report.
On School Vouchers
He said last month that he is against school vouchers, but Lone Star Project has dug up a dozen or so quotes by Culler promoting vouchers. Apparently he was for them before he was against them...check out the extended entry for all the quotes and sources.
On Katrina
Voted no on H Res 437: To establish the Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina.
According to Dos Centavos, where was Cueller when Congress was voting on the initial $10 billion aid package for the Katrina effort? At a photo op with John Carter and Mike McCaul (both Republicans).
On CAFTA
Voted with 15 other Democrats to pass CAFTA.
On Redistricting
In 2003, Cuellar worked with Tom DeLay ally and House Redistricting Committee Chairman Phil King to redraw Texas congressional districts and eliminate five senior Democrats from Congress. (Source: Phil King Deposition November 23, 2003)
On Immigration
Broke with Democrats to support the Republican Immigration plan to build a wall along the US/Mexico border; (Source:109th Congress Roll Call vote 31, February 10, 2005)
On The Budget
Broke with Democrats to support the Republican Tax Package; (Source: 109th Congress Roll Call vote 621, December 8, 2005)
On Tort Reform
Broke with Democrats to support Republican Leadership to limit the access of individuals to pursue civil class action law suits; ( Source: 109th Congress Roll Call Vote 38, February 17, 2005)
Cuellar worked with DeLay on the new redistricting map! Holy shit. I want more info on that, and will do some digging.
As always, the best you can do for the campaign if you're anywhere near that district is volunteer. A close second is contributing.
Update: Perry King was the chair of the House Redistricting Committee during DeLay's redistricting efforts. He was deposed as part of a lawsuit challenging the legality of that redistricting on Nov 23, 2003. Here's the pertinent part:
The following are quotes from State Rep. Phil King’s deposition in Session v. Perry. King was the chair of the House Redistricting Committee during Texas redistricting.
2 Q. Who is Henry Cuellar?
3 A. He used to be in the House and he was
4 Secretary of State.
5 Q. Did he call you throughout the entire
6 process or just when it was in the committee?
7 A. Henry called me on a number of occasions
8 throughout the entire process.
***
25 Q. And what were some of his suggestions?
1 A. To keep Laredo intact.
2 Q. And you could split Webb County as long as
3 you keep Laredo intact under some of his options?
4 A. Yeah, I think so.
5 Q. Okay.
6 A. I think so. Again, his -- his focus was my
7 political base is Laredo, and -- and if I'm going to
8 run for Congress, that's where I need to be. And
9 Henry is a friend, and I like him, and he knew I'd
10 listen to what he said.
Update II: Read the comments to this post. Hilarious!