Leader in Texas congressional race changes

SAN ANTONIO, March 31 (UPI) -- The leader in a South Texas primary race for Congress keeps changing as new votes are uncovered in the region with a checkered voting history.

Laredo lawyer Henry Cuellar took a 197-vote lead over incumbent Rep. Ciro Rodriguez Tuesday after recounts in two counties in the race for the Democratic nomination in 28th District, the San Antonio Express-News reported.

The outcome of the race is still unresolved more than three weeks after the Texas primary and more recounts are planned this week in the 11-county district.

Cuellar took the lead Tuesday, in part, because of 237 votes found among 304 ballots that were either uncounted or unrecorded on election night in Zapata County.

The Rodriguez campaign is planning a lawsuit.

South Texas has a checkered past in elections. In the legendary Box 13 incident a cache of 202 votes discovered after a 1948 primary in Jim Wells County helped boost Lyndon B. Johnson to a slim victory in a U.S. Senate race.