The Congressional Leadership Fund pulled $3 million in reserved advertisement funding from Texas's 28th Congressional District race against Democratic Representative Henry Cuellar in October 2026. The super PAC reallocated the funds to defend nearby South Texas seats held or targeted by Republicans. Despite a 2025 redistricting map designed to flip the district and Cuellar's 2024 federal indictment, Cuellar received a pardon from Donald Trump in December 2025 and leads Republican nominee Tano Tijerina by 11 points in public polling.
Congressional Leadership Fund ad cuts in Texas's 28th district
- ▪The Congressional Leadership Fund reallocated the $3 million withdrawn from Texas's 28th District to fund advertisements in Texas's 15th and 34th Congressional Districts.
- ▪Nonpartisan election forecasters shifted the rating for Texas's 28th Congressional District race from a toss-up to favoring Democrats after the Congressional Leadership Fund reduced ad spending.
- ▪The Congressional Leadership Fund spent $4.6 million on advertising in Texas's 28th Congressional District before pulling its remaining $3 million reservation against Democratic Representative Henry Cuellar in October 2026.
Texas's 28th District race and polling
- ▪An August 2026 Texas Southern University poll found Democratic Representative Henry Cuellar leading Republican candidate Tano Tijerina by 11 percentage points in Texas's 28th Congressional District.
- ▪House Speaker Mike Johnson rallied with Republican candidate Tano Tijerina in South Texas on October 13, 2026, asserting in a television interview that public race polling showing Henry Cuellar leading was wrong.
- ▪Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina, a former Democrat who changed political parties in 2024, is running as the Republican nominee against Representative Henry Cuellar in Texas's 28th Congressional District.
Henry Cuellar's reelection campaigns
- ▪Democratic Representative Henry Cuellar won reelection in Texas's 28th Congressional District by nearly 6 percentage points in 2024 despite Donald Trump carrying the district.
- ▪Representative Henry Cuellar filed for reelection as a Democrat in Texas's 28th Congressional District in December 2025.
Henry Cuellar's presidential pardon
- ▪Donald Trump publicly lamented granting Representative Henry Cuellar a pardon after believing Cuellar might switch from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party.
- ▪Representative Henry Cuellar received a full presidential pardon from Donald Trump in December 2025 after being indicted in 2024 on federal bribery and money laundering charges.
2025 redistricting of Texas's 28th district
- ▪The 2025 redistricting map for Texas's 28th Congressional District slightly increased the percentage of the vote won by House Democrats despite expanding Donald Trump's 2024 margin.
- ▪The Texas Legislature redrew Texas's 28th Congressional District in 2025 by replacing San Antonio-area territory with Hidalgo County to create a district Donald Trump would have carried by 10 points.
Texas Senate campaign advertising
- ▪A Republican super PAC spent over $22 million on a Texas Senate ad supporting Ken Paxton in September 2026, while James Talarico's Democratic campaign spent under $4 million for half the airtime.
- ▪Allies of Ken Paxton purchased ad time on national NFL broadcasts during the 2026 Texas Senate race because local television advertising markets had grown crowded.
Republican ad spending advantage in September 2026 Senate races
- ▪Following a Supreme Court ruling on campaign rates, national party committees spent over $30 million on coordinated ad buys in September 2026 for Republicans versus $5 million for Democrats.
- ▪Across nine competitive U.S. Senate races in September 2026, Republican advertisers outspent Democrats on television ads $233 million to $121 million but received only 40 percent more gross rating points.
- ▪Outside super PACs accounted for approximately nine in ten Republican advertising dollars in nine key U.S. Senate races during September 2026 compared to half of Democratic ad spending.
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