Lawyer Jessica Cisneros is filing for a recount in her primary challenge against incumbent Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX), she announced Monday.
“Our community isn’t done fighting, we are filing for a recount,” she said in a statement. “With just under .6 percent of the vote symbolizing such stark differences for the future of south Texas, I owe it to our community to see this through to the end.”
Cuellar led by 187 votes with 50.2 percent of the vote to Cisneros’ 49.8, per the New York Times’ tracker. After counties finished canvassing last week, he ended up with a 281-vote lead.
The required margin between the two candidates for a requested recount in Texas must be less than 10 percent of the leading candidate’s vote share. The candidate requesting the recount bears the cost, unless the recount changes the election outcome.
Cuellar has declared victory multiple times since election night.
Cuellar and Cisneros are currently competing in the runoff, after finishing with 48.4 percent and 46.9 percent of the vote, respectively, in March.
The winner will face former Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) aide Cassy Garcia in November.
Cisneros, a former aide to Cuellar, just barely lost to him in 2020. She has emphasized his rare position as one of the last anti-abortion Democrats in Congress in the final weeks of the campaign.
