Cuellar ex-staffer seeks old boss’ seat as a Republican

Jose Sanz, a former staffer for Democratic U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, is mounting a bid against his old boss as a Republican.

Sanz said his campaign will focus on securing the border and reining in government spending. He served for two years as press secretary and district director for Cuellar, who represents a swath of South Texas stretching from Laredo to San Antonio.

Sanz said his experience working for Cuellar was “unparalleled,” but “over time it became clear that my values and beliefs did not align with those of the office.”

“I had to make a change so I could fight for what matters to me most — my conservative ideals and the ability to represent the family values of the people of District 28 in Washington, D.C.,” he said in a news release.

Sanz served in the office from August 2021 to this summer, according to Legistorm, which maintains a database of political staffers. He also has worked as a television sports analyst.

“For the second cycle in a row, we welcome another Republican candidate to the race that has no experience and is not from the 28th Congressional District of Texas,” Cuellar spokesman Jake Hochberg told the Texas Tribune, which first reported on Sanz’s run. “We will win again, decisively.”

Sanz was born in Mexico City and came to the United States when he was 9 years old. He grew up in the suburbs of Houston and now resides in Laredo, his campaign said.

Cuellar, a moderate Democrat, has served in Congress since 2005. He has earned a reputation for reaching across the aisle, especially on matters of immigration and border security.

His centrism has garnered backlash on both sides of the aisle, and Cuellar has faced fierce opposition from his left in recent election cycles.

Progressive immigration attorney Jessica Cisneros came within 4 percentage points of unseating Cuellar in the 2020 Democratic primary. Last year, she forced him into a runoff, where Cuellar won by about 300 votes.

Cuellar easily won reelection — by about 13 percentage points — against a Republican challenger last November. It’s not yet clear whether Cisneros will mount a third run against him.