Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX), a rare moderate and anti-abortion Democrat, reportedly rejected calls to switch political parties over the weekend.
After speaking with five people familiar with the situation, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that allies of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy called Cuellar over the weekend to see if he would switch parties.
However, Cuellar turned them down, according to multiple people. An unusual move like this would have increased what is projected to be a small Republican majority and had the potential to help McCarthy, who won his party’s nomination to run for speaker of the House.
One person told The WSJ that Cuellar, who sits on the appropriations committee, was offered committee positions and asked what it would take for the Democrat congressman to switch parties.
McCarthy spokesman Mark Bednar told the WSJ that the calls were not made at the Republican leader’s request and that “Anyone suggesting this is simply exercising in fan fiction.”
“Leader McCarthy is going to be elected speaker by the current and newly-elected members of the House Republican Conference. Our efforts are exclusively focused on bringing our conference together and saving the country,” Bednar added.
U.S. House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) speaks as Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), and House Minority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) listen during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol September 25, 2019, in Washington, DC. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
All of this comes after the Texas Democrat went through a tough primary challenge in the primary and a tough general election battle against Republican Cassy Garcia, though he currently holds a significant lead.
During the race, the McCarthy-aligned super PAC, Congressional Leadership Fund, spend roughly $5 million to unseat him.
While McCarthy reportedly received a majority vote from his conference on Tuesday to become the party’s preference for speaker, he faced resistance from parts of his own party.
However, even though he became his party’s nominee for the position, he will still need a majority vote of the full House in January to fill the position.
Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.
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