Elections
The campaigns in heavily Latino and religious South Texas are shaping up along different lines than elsewhere in the country.
Rep. Henry Cuellar won his Democratic primary despite getting attacked from the left on abortion. | Eric Gay/AP Photo
By Marissa Martinez
10/01/2022 07:00 AM EDT
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Democratic candidates across the country are making the fall of Roe v. Wade a centerpiece of their midterm campaigns — except in one of the most important swing regions in the battle for the House.
Three high-profile South Texas House races have become referendums on whether the GOP can expand recent gains among Latino voters, who have historically voted for Democrats in the area. And while abortion is playing a big role in Democratic messaging elsewhere in the country, the issue is largely absent from the party’s TV campaigns in the fight to keep South Texas blue.
The largely Hispanic region of South Texas has a muddled relationship with abortion rights. Many people are personally religious, socially conservative and against abortion, unlike in other regions of the country where Democrats are campaigning heavily on the issue.