LAREDO, Texas. Like most of her neighbors in Laredo’s predominantly Hispanic community, Angelica Garza has voted Democratic for most of her adult life. Her longtime congressman Henry Cuellar, with his moderate views and anti-abortion views, made the choice an easy one, she says.
But as promising Democratic candidates in her South Texas area turned more liberal, Ms. Garza, a staunch Catholic, voted for Donald Trump in 2016, primarily because of his anti-abortion views.
By electing Mr. Trump that year and again in 2020, Ms. Garza has joined the parade of Hispanic voters who are changing the political fabric of South Texas. In the Laredo area, where Fr. nine out of 10 residents are Catholicsmany registered voters seem to be guided mainly by the single issue of abortion.
“I’m ready to vote for any candidate that keeps alive,” said Ms Garza, 75. “This is the most important question for me, even if it means not voting Democrat.”
With just over a week left before the crucial primary, Ms Garza is poised to turn her back on the Democrats. Pointing to a wall covered in folklore figurines of angels in her art shop in Laredo, she explained why: “They are babies, angels, and I don’t think anyone has the right to commit suicide. We have to keep alive.”
Voters like Ms. Garza worry Democratic leaders, whose once-tight grip and influence over the Texas-Mexico border region has waned in recent election cycles. The Republicans won significant victories in South Texas, capturing Zapata County, south of Laredo on the banks of the Rio Grande, and the state’s county in San Antonio. They also made headway in the Rio Grande, where the border counties cast as many votes for Trump in 2020 that they helped to nullify the influence of white voters in the urban and suburban areas of the state who voted for Joe Biden.
Much is at stake in Laredo, the most populous city in the Hispanic-majority 28th congressional district, which stretches from the eastern tip of San Antonio to the western part of the Rio Grande Valley. Since the county was elected nearly three decades ago, Democrats have taken the seat. Mr. Cuellar has represented the district since 2005. His moderate and sometimes conservative views – he was the only Democrat in Congress to vote against a U.S. House of Representatives bill that would have repealed the state’s near total ban on abortion that went into effect last September – often endeared him to social conservatives. and Republicans.
But now he finds himself embroiled in a tough fight with a much more liberal candidate backed by the party’s progressive wing, which includes Senator Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Mr. Cuellar, whose home was raided by the FBI last month as part of an investigation neither he nor the government disclosed, beat his rival Jessica Cisneros by four percentage points in 2020.
If he loses the March 1 primary to Ms. Cisneros, a 28-year-old immigration lawyer who supports abortion rights, the path to a House coup could well run through South Texas, as Republicans have vowed all-in. The campaign focused on religious and other conservative values.
In Laredo, a city that has one of the busiest land ports of entry in North America and where Catholic masses have become an integral part of daily life, anti-abortion calls abound. The problem of polarization seems to be firmly resolved in this part of the state, as evidenced by sermons in 34 Catholic parishes, graphic billboards at intersections, and the fact that the last abortion clinic in the area closed almost 20 years ago.
“My priest doesn’t tell people how to vote, but he reminds us to vote with a Catholic conscience,” said Betty Flores, the city’s mayor from 1998 to 2006. Miss Flores, a longtime friend of the Bush family, also considers himself a Democrat—an “old blue dog,” she said, referring to her moderate views. Although she sees herself in an anti-abortion column, she has said that she does not believe in the adoption of policies to regulate the female body.
Even Sylvia Bruni, Democratic Party leader in Webb County, which includes Laredo, said she’s come to terms with her anti-abortion ambivalence and a broader Democratic mandate to expand women’s health care, including pregnancy termination.
“I speak for myself,” said Ms. Bruni, a Catholic, “but as opposed to abortion as I am, I don’t think I have the right to tell others what to do.”
Mr. Cuellar has kept the seat since 2005 largely because of his moderate views. When voting in September last year against Women’s Health Actmeasure aimed at protecting the right to abortion, he referred to his Catholic upbringing.
The passed measure appears be doomed to the Senate. But Mr. Cuellar’s voice was a symbolic nod to his socially conservative constituency, whose members drive past fetal banners saying “God says ‘All lives matter'” every day, or the dejected Virgin Mary praying for those who thinking about abortion. .
Given that Texas law bans most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, and the Supreme Court may be on the verge of passing a Mississippi law that bans most abortions after 15 weeksmany South Texas voters will do everything they can to keep those gains going, said Eddie Lucio Jr., a state senator often compared to Mr. Cuellar because of his moderate views.
“There is no such thing as a Catholic for abortion rights,” Mr. Lucio said. “There is a silent majority that says nothing. But when they go to vote, they vote for the anti-abortion candidate.”
Outside of Laredo, Texans remain deeply divided on this issue. According to a recent survey conducted Texas Policy Project at the University of Texas at Austin, about 46 percent of the 1200 respondents believe that the current legislation on abortion should either be made more stringent or left unchanged; 43 percent said they should be less strict.
On a recent afternoon at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Laredo, Jose Brizuela, 73, a former businessman, said he has always voted for the Democrats, including Mr. Cuellar, driven by their desire to offer help to the poor. But if the next Democratic nominee supports abortion rights, he said, “I’m ready to vote Republican.”
With Mr. Cuellar’s seat in jeopardy, Republicans are poised to take on their first real challenge in the county in decades. Republican leaders say if news of Mr. Cuellar’s investigation keeps many of his supporters at home, Ms. Cisneros’ progressive values, especially when it comes to abortion, may prove too far a bridge for a broader religious constituency. Seven Republicans are vying for the candidacy in the primary.
Learn Texas Abortion Law
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The strictest in the country. Texas abortion law, known as Senate Bill 8, means a near total ban on abortion in the state. It forbids most abortions after about six weeks and makes no exception for pregnancies resulting from incest or rape. The law has been in effect since September 1.
“It used to be that, ‘Oh, that’s the only way we vote,’” said Luis De La Garza, chairman of the Webb County Republican Party. “We show them that they can vote for what they really believe. I think voters are starting to see that we have the same religious and family values.”
Indeed, the Republicans have made gains in the 28th district. In November 2020, the Republican Party won 39 percent votes compared to 31% in 2016.
Also in 2020, the Democratic presidential candidate received 487 fewer votes than four years earlier. By contrast, the Republican presidential candidate received almost 13,000 more votes in 2020 than in 2016, according to data compiled by the Democratic Party.
Last November, Republicans upended a once solidly Democratic district. in San Antonio 286 ballots in the special round of elections. Voters also turned out for the Republicans en masse in Hidalgo and Zapata counties, traditional Democratic strongholds along the Rio Grande. In 2020, Joe Biden won McAllen’s Hidalgo County by 17 percentage points, a narrower win compared to Hillary Clinton’s 40-point win four years earlier. And in neighboring Zapata CountyMr. Trump won by five points.
The state, while becoming more diverse and progressive, has not resulted in more Democratic votes. In Webb County, only half of registered voters voted in 2020.
Still, progressive Democrats are working overtime to inspire young first-time voters, both to defeat Mr. Cuellar in the primary and for the Republican nominee in November. During a recent visit to San Antonio to campaign for Ms. Cisneros, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive Congresswoman from New York, called the 28th district a “battlefield.”
Democrats have stepped up their outreach efforts over the past few months and attracted more than 2,300 voters, Ms Bruni said.
“We have been solid Democrats, but we are more conservative than the traditional liberal enclaves,” said Sergio Mora, former chairman of the Democratic Party. “We are more socially conservative. We may lose our place.”
Sarah Smith, 40, is among the voters who only see the county turn red over the abortion issue. Ms Smith, who advocates a smaller government – she describes herself as a 19th-century liberal – and is of both Mexican and British descent, said she supported Democratic priorities such as prison reform, but added that keeping the abortion ban was her priority.
“Maybe it’s time for this area to go Republican,” she said. “Everything you need to save a life.”
Susan S. Beachy contributed to the study.