Cuellar Holds Advantage

The San Antonio Express News has a story noting an advantage Rep. Henry Cuellar has over his opponents. The story goes on to note that Democrats (see PinkDome and The Jeffersonian and Daily Kos and Burnt Orange Report and The Huffington Post) have criticized the freshman lawmaker Henry Cuellar for appearing too cozy with Republican leadership, and a recent picture at the state of the union speech did nothing to deter his critics.

But when it came to fundraising Henry Cuellar ended 2005 with a sharp financial edge over rivals Ciro Rodriguez and Victor Morales.

With heavy support from business contributors, the Laredo Democrat closed out the year with seven times more money in the bank than Rodriguez, whom he defeated in a bitterly contested primary two years ago.

Cuellar raised $167,900 from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31 and posted year-end cash on hand totaling $293,833, according to his latest campaign finance report heading into the March 7 Democratic primary.

Rodriguez raised $84,631 and ended the year with $43,000 on hand.

Campaign manager Oscar Sanchez said the former congressman's camp now has more than $100,000 at its disposal.

Victor Morales, for his part, has raised about $1,300 since Jan. 1 and has less than $11,000 in available cash.

The real question is, does an advantage in cash and an advantage with Republicans translate to an advantage with South Texas Democratic primary voters? We will see real soon.

UPDATE: The Dallas Morning News has a troubling story on Mr. Cuellar.

FURTHER UPDATE: The controversial photo has struck a nerve and is causing money to pour in to the coffers of Ciro Rodriguez. The San Antonio Express has the story of the reaction to the photo.