Sen. Elizabeth Warren headed to San Antonio to rally progressives ahead of March 1 primaries
WASHINGTON — The progressive parade through South Texas continues next week with U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren headed to San Antonio to campaign for Jessica Cisneros, who is challenging one of the most conservative Democrats in Congress, U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar.
The Massachusetts Democrat is also set to travel to Austin to rally support for Greg Casar, a former Austin city council member running in a district stretching from Austin to San Antonio.
VOTER GUIDE: What to know for the Texas primary election
Her visit follows U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s trip to San Antonio over the weekend to support Cisneros and Casar, who have been raking in endorsements from progressive stars. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders this week announced his support for the two.
Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez and Warren are arguably the most popular politicians on the left, and their attention to Texas comes as a slate of progressive candidates has popped up in congressional races from Dallas to Austin to the Rio Grande Valley.
PROGRESSIVES RALLY IN SAN ANTONIO
WHO: U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Jessica Cisneros, NARAL Pro-choice America president Mini Timmaraju
WHAT: Get Out the Vote Rally
WHEN: Tuesday, Feb. 22 at 5:30 p.m.
WHERE: Cherrity Bar, 302 Montana Street, San Antonio
“If we send a Democrat who doesn’t give a damn about people, why would we expect people to vote for that person?” Ocasio-Cortez said at her San Antonio rally last weekend. “How can we win when we support Democrats who don’t support child care or health care or immigrants or stand up for women and gender-expanding people? How can we win when we don’t stand for nothing? We have to stand for something in order to bring it home.”
Cisneros, a Laredo immigration attorney, is running a closely watched rematch against Cuellar, a nine-term incumbent from Laredo. Cisneros drew national attention in 2020 when she came within just a few points of beating Cuellar in the primary.
Progressives hope she can win the rematch as Cuellar is under a cloud of suspicion after the FBI searched his home and campaign headquarters in January. Tannya Benavides, a former educator and community organizer, is running against Cuellar from the left this time, too.
Casar is one of four Democrats running in a district that stretches along Interstate 35 from San Antonio to Austin long held by U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, who is seeking election in a new district. Casar is a self-avowed Democratic socialist who pioneered the Austin’s “defund the police” move last year.
The outside support has drawn criticism from Cisneros’ and Casar’s opponents.
“The voters will decide this election, not far left celebrities who stand for defunding the police, open borders, eliminating oil & gas jobs, and raising taxes on hard working Texans,” Cuellar’s campaign said in a statement last week. “Members should take care of their own district before taking failed ideas to South Texas.”
Warren has deep ties to Texas. She graduated with a teaching degree from the University of Houston in 1970. She taught at both University of Houston’s law school and at the University of Texas at Austin.
Ocasio-Cortez for years was involved in National Hispanic Institute programs headquartered outside of San Marcos in Maxwell that were designed to help promising Latino students develop leadership skills and public policy knowledge to help them become lifelong leaders.
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