U.S. House · TX-28
FederalHenry Cuellar (D) won the race for Texas' 28th Congressional District with 65.8% of the vote to Tano Tijerina's (R) 29.6%, as called by the Associated Press.
Henry Cuellar vs. Tano TijerinaNovember 3 results
Democrat: Henry Cuellar (incumbent)Winner
Republican: Tano TijerinaMarlón Durán (Green) 4.6%
State count last updated Nov. 4, 8:08 a.m. CT. Unofficial until the state canvass, between Nov. 21 and Dec. 7.
Counties must finish their canvass by Nov. 17, and totals can change until then.
Represents Laredo and South Texas in Congress.
Before Election Day: Ratings and Analysis
Written before Election Day and not updated with returns. Ratings and polls describe the race before any returns were reported.
Democratic incumbent Henry Cuellar defends a district that leans Republican under the 2025 map. Sabato's Crystal Ball and Inside Elections rate it Lean Democratic, and Cook Political Report rates it Likely Democratic. Trump pardoned Cuellar in December 2025, ending the federal bribery case against him. His challenger is Tano Tijerina, a Democrat-turned-Republican Webb County judge who won the GOP primary with 74.3%.
Sabato's Crystal Ball rates this Lean Democratic, as Cook Political Report did after Trump's December 2025 pardon of Henry Cuellar removed the bribery prosecution hanging over his reelection. Cook now rates it Likely Democratic. Inside Elections also rates it Lean Democrat, a move from Tilt Democrat on Oct. 29. Trump won the district by 10 points under the new map.
November Polling Before Election Day
Every poll here was conducted before Election Day. They stay here for comparison with the returns.
| Pollster | Date | Sample | Cuellar | Tijerina | Undec. | Reported Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DCCC AnalyticsPolitical sponsor · excluded from average | Oct. 13, 2026 | 536 LV±4.2 MOE | 54% | 34% | 11% | Cuellar +20 |
| Texas Southern University | Aug. 22, 2026 | 600 LV±4 MOE | 45% | 34% | 15% | Cuellar +11 |
DCCC Analytics · Oct. 13, 2026 · 536 LV · ±4.2 MOE
Cuellar 54% · Tijerina 34%Cuellar +20Undec. 11%
Political sponsor · excluded from average
Texas Southern University · Aug. 22, 2026 · 600 LV · ±4 MOE
Cuellar 45% · Tijerina 34%Cuellar +11Undec. 15%
Methodology and source notes for 2 polls
DCCC Analytics, Oct. 13, 2026
DCCC memo dated October 19, 2026: "An internal DCCC Analytics poll conducted October 7-13th among 536 likely general election voters in TX-28," by phone and text-to-web, ±4.2 points at 95% confidence. 11% undecided; the memo gives no figure for other candidates. It publishes neither question wording, crosstabs, nor weighting. Party-committee poll, shown with the sponsor disclosed and excluded from the headline average.
Original poll release (opens in new tab)Texas Southern University, Aug. 22, 2026
Barbara Jordan Public Policy Research and Survey Center at TSU (Michael O. Adams and Mark P. Jones), August 2026 report on TX-15, TX-28, and TX-34. Fielded August 18 to 22, 2026 by SMS to registered voters, directed to an online survey in English and Spanish; likely voters identified with a likely-voter screen and past election participation. The report names no outside sponsor. TX-28: 600 likely voters, ±4.00 points; Green Marlón Durán 6%, 15% undecided. The report describes its sampling and survey method but not its weighting; our transparency rule requires a published methodology, sample size, margin of error, and public source, and this report meets it, as TSU’s statewide polls do.
Original poll release (opens in new tab)
Each row is one poll, shown as reported. Before Election Day, headline cards averaged eligible likely-voter polls of the nominees taken since the runoff, leaving out polls sponsored by campaigns or political operatives and polls held out over method or ballot differences. See the methodology page. The reported gap is the difference between candidate percentages, not a finding of a statistically significant lead. An undecided share appears only when explicitly recorded from the source; a dash means it has not been recorded. Independently rounded categories may not sum to 100%. Likely-voter (LV) and registered-voter (RV) samples are not directly comparable.
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Primary Results
Winner.Tano Tijerina
Eileen Day
Winner.Henry Cuellar(i)
Ricardo Villarreal
Andrew VantineRepublican nominee
Webb County Judge; fmr. Democrat
Democratic nominee
Also on the ballot
- Marlón DuránGreen
Certified for the November 3 ballot by the Texas Secretary of State, August 28, 2026.
Campaign Finance
Dataset updated Nov. 1, 2026Candidate accounts only. Super PACs and other outside groups are not included.
FEC · Cycle totals through Oct. 14, 2026
Incumbent (D, TX-28). Candidate ID retains the TX-23 prefix from his original 2002 filing.
FEC · Cycle totals through Oct. 14, 2026
Republican nominee, TX-28.
| Candidate | Party | Raised | Spent | Cash on Hand | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Henry Cuellar | Democratic | $3,043,039 | $2,433,767 | $657,231 | FEC · Cycle totals through Oct. 14, 2026 |
| Tano Tijerina | Republican | $1,862,407 | $1,749,357 | $113,050 | FEC · Cycle totals through Oct. 14, 2026 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Who won the 2026 race for Texas' 28th Congressional District?
Henry Cuellar (D) won the race for Texas' 28th Congressional District with 65.8% of the vote to Tano Tijerina's (R) 29.6%, as called by the Associated Press. Results are unofficial until the canvass.
Who was on the 2026 ballot for Texas' 28th Congressional District?
Henry Cuellar (Democratic), Tano Tijerina (Republican), and Marlón Durán (Green) were on the November 3 ballot.
Tano Tijerina vs. Henry Cuellar: who was on the ballot for Texas' 28th Congressional District?
Republican Tano Tijerina and incumbent Democrat Henry Cuellar were the major-party candidates for Texas' 28th Congressional District on the November 3, 2026 ballot.
Where can I see 2026 results for Texas' 28th Congressional District?
This page publishes Texas Secretary of State returns for Texas' 28th Congressional District as they become available. Election-night counts are unofficial until canvassed, and TexPolls marks a race called only after a named news organization calls it.