Texas Democrat tied to Azerbaijan inquiry faces tough primary election contest

An FBI raid could give Henry Cuellar's progressive challenger a primary boost - but a Cuellar loss could open the door for Republicans

Few people outside of south Texas, and even fewer outside the state, have heard of US representative Henry Cuellar, though he is one of the state's most fascinating elected officials. But now the nation may know him as yet another member of Congress tied to a federal investigation. A recent FBI raid at this nine-term Democratic congressman's home and campaign headquarters in Laredo, on the US-Mexico border, has potentially significant implications for Washington politics: it deals another blow to the art of compromise, a once-essential legislative tool, and one that Cuellar has mastered in his long political career.

The FBI raid on January 19 is part of an investigation of several people with ties to the former Soviet nation of Azerbaijan. I have no direct knowledge of the nature of the federal investigation - and Cuellar has not been charged with anything - but allowing an FBI raid weeks before his hotly contested 1 March primary suggests the highest levels of the justice department signed off on this action.