RIO GRANDE CITY, Texas (Border Report) — Early voting started Monday in the Republican primary runoff for Texas’ 28th Congressional District, which spans the South Texas border from Laredo to Starr County in the Rio Grande Valley.

This is the district that Democratic U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar has held for nearly 20 years and he easily won in 2022.

But earlier this month Cuellar was indicted on federal charges of bribery, corruption and money laundering, and Republicans say every vote counts in this runoff election and the general election in November as they try to flip this seat in this Democratic-stronghold.

“Representative Cuellar is someone who can be defeated here in the Valley. And I believe that we will defeat them at the polls in November – indictment, notwithstanding. I think we have a good chance of winning,” Starr County Republican Chair Toni Treviño told Border Report on Monday.

“We have two great candidates who are running: Lazaro Garza Jr. and Jay Furman. And I believe that either one of them can readily beat Rep. Cuellar come November,” she said.

Navy veteran Furman is running against rancher Garza for the Republican nomination. But neither has raised anywhere near the campaign funds that Cuellar has. Furman has about $175,000; Garza has raised just under $300,000, according to the Texas Tribune.

Furman received almost 45% of the votes in the March 5 primary; Garza received 27%. But neither received the 50% plus one vote necessary to receive the party nomination.

Cuellar has received nearly $2 million this election cycle and has over $415,000 in the bank.

But that doesn’t matter to Starr County residents Jose Manuel Villarreal and his wife, Armandina, who voted in the Republican runoff on Monday.

Jose Manuel is an Army veteran who served in the Vietnam War. His wife is a librarian who is retiring at the end of the month. They have a family home in the small community of Los Villareales, west of Rio Grande City, on the banks of the Rio Grande. And they say a lot of migrants cross onto their property illegally.

“We live by the border. Our backyard is the Rio Grande — Los Villareales — so yes it’s very important to us,” Armandina said.

When asked if they have suffered damages or been broken into, or had losses, they said they had. “It’s scary,” Jose Manuel said.

“Sometimes it’s families and children and it’s heartbreaking,” Armandina said.

Starr County Elections Administrator Armandina Martinez says there are just under 36,000 registered voters in this rural ranching county that is on the western edge of the Rio Grande Valley.

She says a majority are Democrats.

Treviño says just 454 Republican voters cast ballots in the Republican primary election in March.

But Jose Manuel says he remembers when Republicans were in charge decades ago, and he wants that to return.

“Back in the day, Starr County for 50 years was Republican and now we need to mix it up a little bit,” he said.

Election Day is May 28. Voters who were registered in the primary are eligible to participate in the runoff election.

Currently, early voting is being held only at the Starr County Courthouse in Rio Grande City.

But four polling sites will be open on Election Day in Starr County, according to the Starr County Elections office. This includes:

• Starr County Courthouse, 401 N. Britton Ave., Rio Grande City
• The Roma Community Center, 502 E. Sixth Street, Roma
• La Rosita Public Library, 4192 W. U.S. Hwy. 83, La Rosita
• El Cenizo Pk. building, 70 Old La Casita Rd., Rio Grande City

Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.