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Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina launched his bid to run as a Republican for South Texas’ 28th Congressional District on Tuesday, kicking off his campaign to flip a key battleground district red.

National GOP recruiters see Webb County’s top elected official as a promising candidate to unseat longtime U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar , D-Laredo, in the 2026 midterm elections. The district runs from San Antonio to the border and covers all of Webb County, which is both Tijerina’s and Cuellar’s home base.

“South Texas raised me. Every lesson I have learned about faith, family, hard work, and never giving up came from the people here,” Tijerina said in the news release

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