2026 forecast ยท Texas 28th

Henry Cuellar is all but certain to win Texas's 28th District.

Henry Cuellar vs Tano E. Tijerina. The model has Cuellar ahead by 12.2 points, winning 97 percent of 2,000 simulated elections.

Safe DModel D +12.2Polls D +3.0Updated October 22, 2026
Henry Cuellar
Democrat
55.5%
145,937 projected votes
Tano E. Tijerina
Republican
43.3%
113,842 projected votes
97%Cuellar
3%Tijerina
Cuellar all but certainEach square is one simulated election night, Cuellar wins about 97 of 100
RatingSafe D97% chance for Cuellar
Model marginD +12.2Polls D +3.0
80 percent rangeD +20.0 to D +4.12,000 simulations
Projected votes262,711Cuellar 55.6%

The district map

Every district in the state, shaded by its rating

Texas districts

38 districts
Safe DLikely DLean DToss upLean RLikely RSafe R

Vote share

Each candidate's projected share and the range of 80 percent of simulations

Henry CuellarDemocrat ยท 97% to win
55.5%
Tano E. TijerinaRepublican ยท 3% to win
43.3%

Scale runs from 25 to 75 percent. The dot is the forecast, the band is the 80 percent range and the brighter tick marks 50 percent.

Projected district vote

262,711 votes
CandidateVotesShare
Henry Cuellar D145,93755.6%
Tano E. Tijerina R113,84243.3%
Marlon Duran G2,9321.1%
Total262,711100%

Each candidate's expected vote in the On Point simulation, at the forecast's projected turnout.

The trend

Each side's chance of winning over the forecast's recent updates

0%25%50%75%100%97% Cuellar3% Tijerina16 updates agoToday

Polling

Every poll in the average, and how the model reads it

The Texas governor polling average
36%38%40%42%44%46%48%50%52%54%56%MayJunJulAugSepOct46.8Hinojosa49.9Abbott
The line is the On Point average: a robust LOWESS fit through the polls, weighted by recency, sample, voter screen and pollster grade, refit three times so outliers count for lessDot size is each poll's weight todayHover or use the arrow keys to read any day
What moves the average today
Fox News/Beacon Research and Shaw & CompanyOct 19 ยท 1,398 LV ยท A++16%Abbott +5.0
Fox News/Beacon Research and Shaw & CompanySep 28 ยท 881 LV ยท A++16%Abbott +5.0
CBS News/YouGovOct 16 ยท 1,460 LV ยท C9.8%Abbott +4.0
On Point PollingOct 18 ยท 385 LV ยท Gold9.6%Abbott +2.5
University of Houston Hobby SchoolOct 14 ยท 2,000 LV ยท NR9.4%Abbott +3.0
New York Times/SienaSep 30 ยท 600 LV ยท Gold8.6%Hinojosa +3.0
Every other poll together: 31%

This is the same On Point polling average as the full average page. The forecast reads the polls through its own Election Day projection, shown as the On Point average in the table below, and blends it with partisan lean and fundamentals.

Polls of the race

Full average
PollsterSampleAgeMargin
On Point averageWeighted averageD +3.0

Each margin is the poll as the pollster published it. The forecast counts every poll after its house effect and the undecided split, which is what the trail above shows; hover a margin for the counted value. Lean R and Lean D mark partisan leaning firms.

Model margin
Cuellar +12.2
Chance of winning
Henry Cuellar97%
Tano E. Tijerina3%
Simulated vote
Henry Cuellar55.5%
Tano E. Tijerina43.3%
Marlon Duran1.1%
How the model gets there
Partisan leanD +10.0
FundamentalsD +12.3
With pollsD +12.1
Early vote turnoutD +0.1
With early voteD +12.2

Read from 0 ballots cast so far in Texas, against the party mix the forecast expected of them, with similar states and primary turnout. Early vote tracker

How we got here

From the state's partisan lean to the forecast, one stage at a time

D +15R +15Partisan leanthe state's baselineD +10.0Fundamentalsapproval, economy, candidatesD +12.3With pollsaverage D +3.0D +12.1With early voteturnout so farD +12.2
Methodology
Every county is rebuilt by simulating voters going to the polls, 2,000 times, from On Point Polling survey data, past results, and the polling average. How the model works.