Far-left politicians and organizations lashed out at House Democrat leadership after the incumbent Rep. Henry Cuellar (Dem-TX) declared he had won the race in the “too close to call” Texas runoff election against socialist Jessica Cisneros on Tuesday night, despite trailing by more than 20 percentage points just a week ago.
After they supported Cuellar, and potentially helped him win, Socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) attacked her party’s leadership — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and the U.S. House Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC), who were allegedly recorded making robocalls for the Democrat right before the election, according to reports.
“During the day of a massacre and weeks after the news of Roe being overturned, Democratic Party leaders supported a pro-NRA, anti-choice Democrat who is under investigation in a tight primary. All of it was done by robo calls, fundraisers, and so on.” Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter. “Accountability is not partisan. This was an incredible failure of leadership.”
In his statement after Tuesday’s election, Cuellar praised Clyburn “for his unwavering support.” The democratic socialist has yet to acknowledge defeat, with 95 percent of the ballots counted and a margin of 50.2 percent to 49.8 percent in the NY Times as of Wednesday night. According to other prominent media organizations, though, the race is still too close to call.
“The far-left can’t have it both ways,” according to Antjuan Seawright, a Clyburn adviser and Democrat strategist. “This is not the first time the progressives were upset because Americans decided to make their own decisions about who they support,” he said.
“I don’t believe they get to choose what to be enraged about because, in the same way they believe that the speaker and whip are upset with their intervention,” Seawright remarked to The Hill. “The speaker and the whip might be furious over their intervention.”
“It’s clear that an anti-NRA and pro-choice Democrat could have easily won if it was not for the complete backing of Pelosi and the Democratic establishment in D.C. for anti-choice, pro-NRA Henry Cuellar,” Waleed Shahid, who is the comms director for the Justice Democrats, said to The Hill.
The Progressive Change Committee, a far-left organization, has accused Rep. Joe Cuellar of Texas of “collaborating with special interests groups instead of his constituents.” The group said that moderate members like this sided with special interests organizations rather than the people they were elected to represent.
“They declared their support for Big Oil, AIPAC, gun companies, and the Koch brothers in order to back a candidate who has consistently undermined our party and sent a message to voters that incumbency is more critical than Democratic values,” Hackett said.