Ocasio-Cortez endorses Texas Democrat Henry Cuellar’s primary challenger

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) announced Tuesday that she is endorsing Jessica Cisneros in her Democratic primary challenge to Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar. 

“The people of South Texas deserve a Democrat like Jessica who is going to fight for real people, not big corporate donors like the Koch Brothers, GEO Group, and Exxon,” the first-year progressive representative said in a statement sent by the Cisneros campaign. 

“When Jessica is elected, not only will I no longer be the youngest person in Congress — I’ll have a strong new ally in the fight for Medicare for All, getting corporate money out of politics, and fixing our broken immigration system,” Ocasio-Cortez added.{mosads}

Cisneros, 26, is an immigration and human rights attorney who was born and raised in Laredo, a town on the U.S.-Mexico border. 

She said she is “honored” to have Ocasio-Cortez’s support. 

“Though the Bronx and South Texas are worlds apart, both deserve leaders who will stand up to big corporate interests to fight for a living wage and health care for every American,” she said in the announcement. 

Justice Democrats, the liberal advocacy group that helped Ocasio-Cortez in her successful primary bid against 10-term incumbent Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.) last year, endorsed Cisneros shortly after the launch of her campaign in June. 

Cuellar, who has been in office since 2005, has been a top target for Justice Democrats, which has slammed Cuellar for his record. 

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), a top progressive Democratic presidential candidate, also announced her support for Cisneros last month. 

Cuellar’s campaign spokesman, Colin Strother, bushed off the high-profile endorsements for Cisneros.

“Our opponent continues to focus on out-of-state endorsements, but we are squarely focused on continuing to build support in the district,” Strother told The Hill.

“The strength of our campaign is that we are powered by the working people of the 28th District of Texas, not celebrities. Those are the people that will decide this election.”