The Club for Growth has
endorsed its first Democrat ever -- nominal Dem Henry Cuellar in TX-28. He's facing a primary challenge from former Rep.
Ciro Rodriguez in this swing district. The winner of the primary would face only a half-assed challenge from a fringe libertarian candidate. No Republican filed.
"This is a guy with guts and commitment to the principles he believes in," the Club's president, Pat Toomey, said of Cuellar in a conference call with reporters.
Toomey cited Cuellar's support for the Central America Free Trade Agreement, repealing the estate tax and reforming the public-school system as reasons for the Club's endorsement.
Cuellar beat Rodriguez by 203 votes in the 2004 primary after DeLay's illegally funded redisricting gambit forced the two sitting congressman into the same district.
There are districts were political realities force us to accept Democrats of Cuellar's mold -- he's one of the most conservative Dems in the House. This isn't one of those districts. And fittingly, Rodriguez' campaign already promises to make this endorsement a campaign issue.
Rodriguez's campaign manager, Oscar Sanchez, said voters in the 28th District, stretching from San Antonio to the Mexican line, deserve to know who is backing Cuellar. "We'll definitely be using it in campaign literature," Sanchez said of the Club's backing.