Three Texas Democrats remain noncommittal on Trump impeachment: Reps. Cuellar, Allred and Fletcher

WASHINGTON – Ten of the 13 Texas Democrats in the House solidly favor impeachment. The other three have yet to make up their minds or declare how they’ll vote next week.

That includes Dallas freshman Colin Allred and a Houston freshman who also toppled a longtime GOP congressman last year, Lizzie Pannill Fletcher.

Both are unopposed in the March 3 primary, but high priority targets in the fall for Republicans eager to reclaim seats they’d controlled for more than a decade. The Trump campaign tweaked Fletcher for having cold feet in the face of fading public support for impeachment.

Another holdout, Rep. Henry Cuellar of Laredo, faces a spirited challenge in the primary. He’s taking heat from a Democratic rival for refusing to commit to support impeaching President Donald Trump.

“We’re going to wait till everything is brought in and then once everything’s brought in, I’ll make a decision based on the evidence,” Cuellar said Wednesday. “So, next week, you’ll get an answer from me, but as for right now, I’m waiting for them to … close the case, and then we’ll take it from there.”

Challenger Jessica Cisneros, an activist endorsed by progressive stars Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is using his reluctance against him.

“My position on impeachment is clear: President Trump has abused his office, obstructed Congress, and threatened the law of the land. He must be removed,” Cisneros said. “Despite overwhelming evidence of misconduct by Donald Trump, Henry Cuellar is siding with Trump and the Republican Party ahead of his own constituents. By refusing to join his colleagues in the Texas Democratic delegation and decisively support the articles of impeachment, my opponent proves once again he’s Trump’s favorite Democrat.”

Cuellar is a centrist with the most GOP-friendly voting record of any House Democrat, elected in a district that Trump lost by nearly 20 percentage points in 2016.

When Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced in late September that the House would open an impeachment inquiry, Cuellar initially preached patience, offering a statement that indicated impeachment would be premature.

After Cisneros accused him of being soft on impeachment, he toughened his rhetoric, bringing it in line with that of most other Democrats and signaling a willingness to entertain the possibility: “No one is above the law, and if investigations prove that impeachment is the necessary course of action, then I will be forced to act on impeachment proceedings.”

Pelosi unveiled two articles of impeachment Tuesday. The Judiciary Committee is expected to approve those Thursday, setting up a House vote next week.

Whip counts compiled by the Associated Press and other news organizations are full of blanks. It’s widely assumed that most Republicans will oppose the articles of impeachment and most Democrats will support them.

Many of the Texas Democrats declared their intention Wednesday after being contacted by The Dallas Morning News, including Reps. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Dallas and Marc Veasey of Fort Worth.

“Congresswoman Johnson supports the two articles of impeachment as drafted by the Judiciary Committee,” said her chief of staff, Murat Gokcigdem.

“The evidence is overwhelming. … He is going to vote yes,” Veasey spokeswoman Emily Druckman said.

Rep. Filemon Vela of Brownsville also affirmed his support. “I’m for impeachment,” he said by text.

As for Allred and Fletcher, as GOP targets in seats that only flipped last year, they have incentive to avoid excess partisanship and to project a deliberative approach on such a divisive topic.

“It’s clear that a serious abuse of power happened here,” Allred told CNN on Tuesday. “Whatever decision I make would be based on what I think is consistent with the Constitution, with our values as a country, what I think is best for North Texas — and not any partisan consideration.”

Asked to clarify if that means he supports impeachment, Allred spokesman Josh Stewart said he had “nothing to add to that for now.”

On Tuesday, Fletcher issued a somewhat ambiguous statement, and aides have ignored repeated requests to clarify her stance.

“The facts leading to this morning’s announcement are largely undisputed. The President engaged in certain conduct, refused to participate in the House of Representatives inquiry into that conduct, and prohibited others from doing so. The question of how the House of Representatives responds is now before us,” she said. “I will review and consider the proposed articles of impeachment when they are presented to the Congress.”

The Trump campaign noted that on Sept. 24, she took a much tougher stand: “The House of Representatives should act swiftly to investigate and should be prepared to use the remedy exclusively in its power: impeachment.”

Enthusiasm for impeachment has built among House Democrats. Pelosi tamped that down until late summer, when a CIA whistleblower raised concerns about a July 25 phone call in which Trump pressed Ukraine’s president for a corruption probe aimed at tarnishing Joe Biden, the Democratic front-runner for president.

On Sept. 24, Pelosi announced that the House would open an impeachment inquiry stemming from that whistleblower complaint.

All 13 Texas Democrats supported that move and all 23 Texas Republicans in the House opposed it.

Republicans continue to present a united front against impeachment.

Rep. Al Green, a Houston Democrat, was the first member of Congress to demand Trump’s impeachment. That was in May 2017 – four months after Trump took office and days after he fired FBI director James Comey.