Henry Cuellar

Henry Cuellar
U.S. House, Texas, District 28
Incumbent
In office
January 3, 2005-present
Term ends
January 3, 2015
Years in position	8
Party	Democratic
Predecessor	Ciro Rodriguez (R)
Compensation
Base salary	$174,000/year
Elections and appointments
Last election	November 6, 2012
First elected	November 2, 2004
Next election	November 4, 2014
Campaign $	$8,165,902
Term limits	N/A
Prior offices
Texas Secretary of State
2001
Texas House of Representatives
1987-2001
Education
Bachelor's	Georgetown University
Associate's	Laredo Community College
Master's	Texas A&M University
J.D.	University of Texas
Ph.D.	University of Texas
Personal
Birthday	September 19, 1955
Place of birth	Laredo, Texas
Profession	Lawyer
Net worth	$902,507
Religion	Roman Catholic
Websites
Office website
Campaign website

Henry Roberto Cuellar (b. September 19, 1955) is a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from the state of Texas. Cuellar represents Texas' 28th congressional district and was first elected to the House in 2004. He won re-election on November 6, 2012.

Based on an analysis of bill sponsorship by GovTrack, Cuellar is a "centrist Democratic follower".

Biography

Cuellar received his associate's degree from Laredo Community College and then his bachelor's from Georgetown University. He then earned his J.D. at the University of Texas and his master's from Texas A&M. Later, while a representative in the part-time Texas House of Representatives, he earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas. He has also worked as a lawyer.

Career

• 2005-present: U.S. House of Representatives, Texas' 28th congressional district
• 2001: Texas Secretary of State
• 1987-2001: Texas House of Representatives

Committee assignments

U.S. House

2013-2014

Cuellar serves on the following committees:

• Committee on Appropriations
  • Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs

2011-12

Cuellar was a member of the following House committees:

• House Agriculture Committee
  • Border and Maritime Security Subcommittee Ranking member
• House Homeland Security Committee
  • Subcommittee on Rural Development, Research, Biotechnology, and Foreign Agriculture

Issues

Specific votes

Fiscal Cliff

Cuellar voted for the fiscal cliff compromise bill, which made permanent most of the Bush tax cuts originally passed in 2001 and 2003 while also raising tax rates on the highest income levels. He was one of 172 Democrats that voted in favor of the bill. The bill was passed in the House by a 257/167 vote on January 1, 2013.

Elections

2012

See also: Texas' 28th congressional district elections, 2012

Cuellar ran in the 2012 election for the U.S. House, representing Texas' 28th District. He ran unopposed in the May 29, 2012, Democratic primary. He defeated William Hayward (R), Patrick Hisel (L), and Michael Cary (G) in the November 6, 2012, general election.

U.S. House, Texas, District 28 General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Henry Cuellar Incumbent	67.9%	112,456
	Republican	William R. Hayward	29.8%	49,309
	Libertarian	Patrick Hisel	1.5%	2,473
	Green	Michael D. Cary	0.8%	1,407
Total Votes				165,645
Source: Texas Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

Full history

2010

On November 2, 2010, Henry Cuellar won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Bryan Underwood (R) and Stephen Kaat (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, Texas District 28 General Election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Henry Cuellar incumbent	56.3%	62,773
	Republican	Bryan Underwood	42%	46,740
	Libertarian	Stephen Kaat	1.7%	1,889
Total Votes				111,402

To view the full congressional electoral history for Henry Cuellar, click [show] to expand the section.

2008 On November 4, 2008, Henry Cuellar won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Jim Fish (R) and Ross Lynn Leone (L) in the general election. U.S. House, Texas District 28 General Election, 2008 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Democratic Henry Cuellar incumbent 68.7% 123,494      Republican Jim Fish 29.2% 52,524      Libertarian Ross Lynn Leone 2.1% 3,722 Total Votes 179,740 2006 On November 7, 2006, Henry Cuellar won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Frank Enriquez (D) and Ron Avery (Conservative) in the general election. U.S. House, Texas District 28 General Election, 2006 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Democratic Henry Cuellar incumbent 67.6% 52,574      Republican Frank Enriquez 20.3% 15,798      Conservative Ron Avery 12.1% 9,383 Total Votes 77,755 2004 On November 2, 2004, Henry Cuellar won election to the United States House. He defeated James Hopson (R) and Ken Ashby (L) in the general election. U.S. House, Texas District 28 General Election, 2004 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Democratic Henry Cuellar 59% 106,323      Republican James Hopson 38.6% 69,538      Libertarian Ken Ashby 2.4% 4,305 Total Votes 180,166 2002 On November 5, 2002, Henry Bonilla won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Henry Cuellar (D), Jeffrey Blunt (L), and Ed Scharf (G) in the general election. U.S. House, Texas District 23 General Election, 2002 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Republican Henry Bonilla incumbent 51.5% 77,573      Democratic Henry Cuellar 47.2% 71,067      Libertarian Jeffrey Blunt 0.7% 1,106      Write-in Ed Scharf 0.5% 806 Total Votes 150,552

Campaign donors

Comprehensive donor information for Cuellar is available dating back to 2002. Based on available campaign finance records, Cuellar raised a total of $8,165,902 during that time period. This information was last updated on March 25, 2013.

Henry Cuellar's Campaign Contribution History
Year	Office	Result	Contributions
2012	US House (Texas, District 28)		$1,672,433
2010	US House (Texas, District 28)		$1,247,643
2008	US House (Texas, District 28)		$1,423,483
2006	US House (Texas, District 28)		$1,718,752
2004	US House (Texas, District 28)		$1,036,123
2002	US House (Texas, District 23)		$1,067,468
Grand Total Raised			$8,165,902

2012

Breakdown of the source of Cuellar's campaign funds before the 2012 election.

Cuellar won election to the U.S. House in 2012. During that election cycle, Cuellar's campaign committee raised a total of $1,672,433 and spent $1,279,636.

U.S. House of Representatives, Texas' 28th Congressional District, 2012 - Henry Cuellar Campaign Contributions
Total Raised	$1,672,433
Total Spent	$1,279,636
Total Raised by Election Runner-up	No reports on record for candidate
Total Spent by Election Runner-up	No reports on record for candidate
Top contributors to Henry Cuellar's campaign committee
Uni-Trade Forwarding	$17,100
USAA	$15,000
Nu Tech Image	$14,800
GEO Group	$14,000
LR Global	$12,500
Top 5 industries that contributed to campaign committee
Oil & Gas	$93,875
Health Professionals	$90,200
Lawyers/Law Firms	$76,542
Construction Services	$55,450
Business Services	$54,050

2010

Breakdown of the source of Cuellar's campaign funds before the 2010 election.

Cuellar won re-election to the U.S. House in 2010. During that re-election cycle, Cuellar's campaign committee raised a total of $1,247,643 and spent $1,152,109.

U.S. House of Representatives, Texas, 28th District, 2010 - Henry Cuellar Campaign Contributions
Total Raised	$1,247,643
Total Spent	$1,152,109
Total Raised by General Election Opponent	$149,432
Total Spent by General Election Opponent	$144,879
Top contributors to Henry Cuellar's campaign committee
L&F Distributors	$20,600
SCOOTER Store	$20,600
USAA	$12,750
Duty Free Americas	$12,000
AT&T Inc	$10,000
Top 5 industries that contributed to campaign committee
Health Professionals	$97,400
Lawyers/Law Firms	$79,999
Construction Services	$47,400
Oil & Gas	$40,800
Crop Production & Basic Processing	$38,200

Analysis

Lifetime voting record

See also: Lifetime voting records of United States Senators and Representatives

According to the website GovTrack, Cuellar missed 110 of 6,440 roll call votes from January 2005 to March 2013. This amounts to 1.7%, which is better than the median of 2.2% among current congressional representatives as of March 2013.

Congressional staff salaries

See also: Staff salaries of United States Senators and Representatives

The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Cuellar paid his congressional staff a total of $795,677 in 2011. Overall, Texas ranks 27th in average salary for representative staff. The average U.S. House of Representatives congressional staff was paid $954,912.20 in fiscal year 2011.

Net worth

See also: Net Worth of United States Senators and Representatives

2011

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org - The Center for Responsive Politics, Cuellar's net worth as of 2011 was estimated between $-19,982 to $1,824,996. That averages to $902,507, which is lower than the average net worth of Democratic House members in 2011 of $5,107,874. His average net worth increased by 53.23% from 2010.

2010

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org - The Center for Responsive Politics, Cuellar's net worth as of 2010 was estimated between $33,011 to $1,144,998. That averages to $589,004.50 which is lower than the average net worth of Democratic Representatives in 2010 of $4,465,875.

National Journal vote ratings

See also: National Journal vote ratings

2012

Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of congress voted in the previous year. Cuellar ranked 176th in the liberal rankings among members of the U.S. House.

2011

Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of congress voted in the previous year. Cuellar ranked 182nd in the liberal rankings among members of the U.S. House.

Percentage voting with party

November 2011

The website Open Congress tracks how often members of Congress vote with the majority of the chamber caucus. According to the website, Cuellar voted with the Democratic Party 73.6% of the time, which ranked 178 among the 192 House Democratic members in November 2011.

Recent news

This section displays the most recent stories in a Google news search for the term Henry + Cuellar + Texas + House

All stories may not be relevant to this page due to the nature of the search engine.

Henry Cuellar News Feed

• Reason for optimism on border section of immigration legislation - VOXXI
• Texans team up in Washington for gun safety - Austin American-Statesman
• Tensions rise between press, Obama - The Hill
• Democrats buoyed by Obama response to trio of controversies - The Hill
• House appropriators move second bill under Ryan budget - The Hill (blog)
• TexMessage: Cornyn's attempt at Mexico water sharing amendment does not ... - Houston Chronicle (blog)
• Bill aims to open RFS to natural gas-based ethanol - Ethanol Producer Magazine
• Texan in House wins bipartisan praise for Boston bombing probe - Dallas Morning News
• Sunday talk show tip sheet - Politico
• Congressmen O'Rourke, Cuellar's visit to El Paso focuses on border wait-times - El Paso Times

Personal

Cuellar lives with his wife, Imelda, and their two children.

External links

• Official House website
• Official campaign website

• Social media:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
• Biographies:
  • U.S. Congress
• Political profiles:
  • GovTrack
  • OpenCongress
  • Project Vote Smart
  • CongressMerge
• Financial:
  • FEC
  • OpenSecrets.org
  • LegiStorm.com
• Interest group ratings:
  • Project Vote Smart
• Issue positions:
  • On The Issues
  • Project Vote Smart
• Public statements:
  • Project Vote Smart
• Voting record:
  • Project Vote Smart
  • Washington Post
• Media appearances:
  • C-SPAN
• Media coverage:
  • Washington Post

References

Political offices
Preceded by Ciro Rodriguez	U.S. House of Representatives - Texas, District 28 2005-Present	Succeeded by '
Preceded by '	Texas Secretary of State 2001	Succeeded by '
Preceded by '	Texas House of Representatives 1987-2001	Succeeded by '