Cisneros has raised more money than Cuellar—$4.4 million versus $3 million—and while Cuellar has been riddled with scandals, he somehow still has a shot in the runoff thanks to the continued support of party leadership including Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC) and super PACs dumping obscene amounts of money on pro-Cuellar ads.
Here is a very incomplete list of Cuellar’s various scandals, shady dealings, and disgusting stances:
- The FBI raided Cuellar’s home and campaign office in January 2022, reportedly as part of an investigation into financial ties between the U.S. and Azerbaijan; the investigation is still ongoing.
- LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman’s PAC ran an ad saying Cuellar “opposes a ban on abortion,” when in fact he supports a near-total ban as long as it has exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother.
- Sure looks like the campaign got a bunch of bots to tweet in support of Cuellar before the March election.
- Cuellar fired a staffer at 28 weeks pregnant in 2018, she had a stillbirth, then sued his office for discrimination. As Jezebel reported earlier this month, Cuellar tried to discredit the woman by asking other staffers to submit letters about her work performance after he fired her.
- A Cuellar campaign aide created a dark-money group that has run ads attacking Cisneros.
Cisneros, meanwhile, is not under federal investigation, has not been sued for pregnancy discrimination, and has been endorsed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Planned Parenthood Action Fund, NARAL Pro-Choice America, and the Sunrise Movement.
Get his ass, Jessica.