Tano Tijerina (TX-28) Research Report

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• 2025: Tijerina supported an “overhaul” of the Affordable Care Act and called the ACA “a failure.”
• Nearly 4 million Texas, including more than 121,000 people in TX-28, were enrolled in Affordable Care Act marketplace plans in 2025.
  • NOTE: The TX-28 number is based on the pre-redrawn district boundaries.
• Repealing the Affordable Care Act would repeal protections for people with preexisting conditions and allow insurance companies to reinstate lifetime coverage limits on people and charge unlimited out-of-pocket costs for in-network care.

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• April 2025: Tijerina supported Trump’s tariffs and suggested they had not hurt South Texas.
• April 2025: Laredo Mayor Victor Trevino warned Laredo would be “impacted by the tariffs more than most communities.”
• April-August 2025: South Texas business leaders said tariffs would increase costs, disrupt supply chains, and hurt the trucking and customs industries.
• July 2025: Tijerina dismissed the impacts of “so-called tariffs,” and when a small business requested additional money from Tijerina’s County Court to cover increased costs, Tijerina said it was “their fault.”
• November 2025: When a contractor asked Webb County for a reimbursement to cover tariffs on equipment, Tijerina said “this tariff thing” had already come before the County Court and “it was not a tariff, it was just their way of making more money.”
  • Tijerina made air quotes around the word “tariffs” while suggesting a business was using the tariffs as a pretense to charge the county more money.
  • Webb County’s legal counsel said Webb County may be obligated to reimburse the contractor for extraordinary tariff costs.

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• Tano Tijerina intervened to award a contract for GPS systems for county sheriff patrol cars to a donor to his congressional campaign.
  • October 2025: Tijerina motioned to award the Webb County GPS contract to Monarch Tracking, despite Monarch’s bid ranking 4th by Webb County’s own metrics.
• Monarch Tracking’s CEO, Neal Hill, donated over $3,000 to Tijerina’s congressional campaign, including a large contribution just days before Tijerina motioned to award his company the contract, and promoted his candidacy online.
  • July-October 2025: Hill donated over $3,000 to Tijerina’s campaign committee, with one donation just five days before Tijerina’s motion.
  • Hill made social posts indicating support for Tijerina’s congressional campaign.
• In a public Webb County Commissioners Court meeting Tijerina praised Neal Hill’s work when a County Commissioner pushed back on his motion to change the contract order.
  • Tijerina encountered pushback from a fellow County Commissioner warning Monarch’s bid could result in higher fees.
  • Tijerina said this was perhaps only the third time he’d ever re-ranked a contract order in his eleven years as County Judge.
  • Tijerina even said he knew CEO Neal Hill and praised his company’s work as “really, really impressive” and “incredible.”
  • Tijerina stressed that Monarch Tracking’s GPS technology would go on all 772 Webb County vehicles, no exceptions, when the county originally only sought GPS trackers for 50 sheriff’s department patrol cars.
  • Monarch Tracking ultimately secured the contract with Webb County.

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• Texas had a resign-to-run law that Tijerina appeared to be intentionally and actively circumventing.
  • Per Texas law, local Texas officeholders, including County Judges, automatically resigned their posts if they became a candidate for another office with more than 13 months left in their current term.
  • Tijerina signaled his interest in running for Congress but said, “If I announce [for Congress], right now, today, I would lose my County Judge seat.”
• Tijerina made public comments alluding to a congressional campaign announcement on December 1, 2025.
  • June 2025: Tijerina told Laredo-based outlet KGNS he could potentially announce his run for Congress after December 1, 2025.
  • September 2025: Tijerina told Houston-based radio host Kenny Webster he could “publicly come out” and announce his run on December 1, 2025.
  • Tijerina told KGNS “everything is possible, I’m real to myself” when asked if there was a possibility he would decide not to run after his exploratory phase.
• An ethics professor filed a complaint before the FEC alleging Tijerina violated federal election law to protect his position as Webb County Judge.
  • An FEC complaint against Tijerina outlined statements from and actions by Tijerina that indicated he was using his exploratory committee as a way to circumvent resigning as Webb County Judge.

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• 2001-2025: Tijerina registered the name “El Bosal” for business/professional purposes, was a registered agent and manager of El Bosal, LLC, and was registered to vote at the address of El Bosal.
• El Bosal was a 152-acre estate that had a main house, guest house, horse ranch, foreman’s house, and various wildlife, and was listed for sale at $7.3 million.
  • Compass Real Estate touted El Bosal as “one of the most prestigious horse properties in South Texas” and “perfect for corporate entertainment, weddings, or private dinners” with 100 “closest friends.”
  • El Bosal’s main house was more than 8,000 square feet.
  • El Bosal had a five-car garage, a swimming pool with fountains, and a lighted basketball court.
  • The main house of El Bosal had a guest house with a game room and foreman’s house.
• Webb County had a median home price of $250,000 and median household income of about $62,000.

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• 2014-2024: Tijerina was elected Webb County Judge as a Democrat three times and voted in Democratic primary elections as recently as 2024.
• 2024: Tijerina announced on Fox News he was switching parties from Democrat to Republican after Webb County flipped Republican in the presidential race for the first time in more than 100 years.