Progressive Democrat Jessica Cisneros of south Texas notched another key endorsement on Wednesday as Sen. Bernie Sanders announced his support for the human rights attorney’s primary election bid to unseat Rep. Henry Cuellar.
Laredo-born Cisneros is seeking to defeat Cuellar in Texas’s 28th district. Cisneros has dubbed Cuellar, a 15-year incumbent, “Trump’s favorite Democrat.”
In a statement cheering the new endorsement, Cisneros tied her run to Sanders’s 2020 presidential campaign.
“I’m so grateful to receive the endorsement of Senator Bernie Sanders who is running a grassroots campaign to fight for working people, not big corporate donors,” said Cisneros. “We’re proud that presidential candidates are taking a close look at South Texas as we fight to turn Texas blue in November—and that they know we’re the only candidate in this race who will champion Democratic values in Washington.”
Sanders, in a statement Wednesday, welcomed the fact that Cisneros was just one of a number of 2020 candidates who could usher in progressive policies.
“This is the most important election in our lifetime and I’m proud there are so many candidates running for Congress who understand that real change comes from the bottom on up, not the top on down,” said Sanders, who’s also backed Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Marie Newman of Illinois. “They’re all strong advocates for real change and together we will build a movement to transform this nation so that it works for all our people.”
SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT