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As he prepares for a potential candidacy for a congressional seat based in Laredo, Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina is contesting claims made in a federal complaint. This complaint alleges that the Republican county leader has breached federal election laws by attempting to evade Texas’ resign-to-run statute.
Although Tijerina has not officially a
ounced his campaign, he is actively considering a bid for Texas’ 28th Congressional District. This district stretches from San Antonio to the border and encompasses all of Webb County. The position has been held by U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar, a Democrat from Laredo, since 2005.
The complaint, submitted by author and former ethics professor Cecilia Martinez from San Antonio, contends that Tijerina has misleadingly maintained his campaign as merely an exploratory committee to avoid activating the Texas Constitution’s resign-to-run law. This law stipulates that certain local officials must resign if they declare their candidacy for another office with more than one year and 30 days remaining in their term.
Tijerina is currently in his third term as county judge, which is set to conclude on December 31, 2026. Thus, he would need to resign if he a
ounces his congressional candidacy on or before December 1 of this year. If he postpones his a
ouncement until next Tuesday, he can retain his position until the end of next year.
Martinez’s complaint, filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Friday, claims that Tijerina has made it “abundantly clear” that he has already decided to pursue a federal office. Should this assertion hold true, the complaint states that Tijerina likely violated federal election law by failing to file a candidacy statement with the FEC after surpassing a specified fundraising threshold.
“Judge Tijerina’s congressional campaign remains under the guise of an exploratory committee not because he is legitimately testing the waters, but because he does not want to face the state-law consequences of declaring his candidacy,” the complaint asserts.
Tijerina has dismissed the complaint as a “political sham,” stating on social media on behalf of his exploratory committee that he is adhering to all federal and state regulations governing exploratory activities and has not crossed any legal boundaries.
He further alleged that the complaint was orchestrated by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), the campaign arm of House Democrats, and represents a “coordinated smear campaign by far-left operatives.”
“Judge Tijerina takes it as a compliment that the DCCC is already attacking him before he has made a decision to become a candidate to protect the treasonous Congressman they support,” the statement continued.
The complaint alleges that Tijerina has breached federal election laws and regulations that mandate individuals to file their candidacy with the FEC within 15 days of becoming a candidate. This threshold is broadly interpreted as the point at which an individual raises over $5,000, which the complaint suggests Tijerina has achieved.
Martinez acknowledged the FEC’s “testing-the-waters exception,” which permits individuals to raise more than $5,000 without formally becoming a candidate, provided the funds are raised solely to assess the viability of a candidacy. However, she contends that Tijerina has surpassed this deliberative phase, citing numerous public statements that heavily imply he has already made the decision to run.
Among those comments are Tijerina’s statements in various radio and television interviews where he noted that the resign-to-run provision was the reason for forming an exploratory committee.
The complaint also references Tijerina’s reposting of an Instagram story from a Webb County employee expressing enthusiasm about his potential move from county governance to Congress. It further suggests that his exploratory committee is likely engaging in fundraising activities, although it admits there is “no way to know exactly how much” has been raised or spent.
In her complaint, Martinez requests that the FEC investigate whether Tijerina has overstepped the bounds of permissible exploratory activities to the extent that he violated the Federal Election Campaign Act. Should the FEC find Tijerina in violation, Martinez seeks the imposition of the maximum allowable fine.
The possibility of an FEC reprimand could hinder Tijerina’s anticipated campaign launch for one of the pivotal congressional districts targeted by national Republicans in 2026. After being elected as a Democrat to lead Webb County in 2014, Tijerina switched party affiliation to Republican in December and is viewed as a promising candidate by national GOP recruiters.
Cuellar narrowly won reelection to an 11th term in 2024, overcoming a significant rightward shift in Texas’ predominantly Latino border counties, including Webb County, which had been a longstanding Democratic stronghold that Trump narrowly carried. Trump also garnered a majority of the vote in Cuellar’s district.
Tijerina’s electoral prospects could be further enhanced by Cuellar’s legal challenges; the congressman is scheduled to go to trial in April on charges that include bribery and money laundering, which he has denied. Additionally, Republicans are hopeful that the U.S. Supreme Court will reinstate a congressional map that would modify District 28 into a seat that would have favored Trump by 10 percentage points in 2024, compared to the 7-point margin under its current boundaries.
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