3 Democratic Primaries

by: Matt Glazer

Tue Aug 14, 2007 at 02:55 PM CDT

Clay Robinson wrote a week ago that some “Craddick D’s” are more likely than others to garner primary opponents than others.  His list included:

Among the so-called "Craddick Democrats" — Democratic House members viewed as loyal to Craddick, including a number of committee chairmen — those most likely to draw opponents in their party's primary include Kevin Bailey of Houston, Robert Puente of San Antonio, Aaron Peña of Edinburg and Kino Flores of Mission.

Two of those men have either a declared opponent or one looking at the possibilities--Aramando Walle and Roland Gutierrez has started making the moves to challenge Kevin Bailey and Robert Puente respectively.

Armando Walle, an aide to U.S. Rep. Gene Green of Houston, is preparing to challenge Bailey, and San Antonio Councilman Roland Gutierrez is considering a race against Puente.

Another race of interest is Rick Noriega’s seat.  Since Noriega cannot run for both a state and federal office his House Seat will be opening up.  House District 145 has a few candidates interested.

Elias De La Garza, owner of a busy Gulf Freeway fronted insurance office, is being wooed for the House District 145 race as an alternative to Houston Councilwoman Carol Alvarado and other potential contenders the local Democratic establishment might rally behind as a replacement for Noriega if Noriega gives up the seat.

There's also speculation Roy Morales, a retired Air Force Lt. Col. who ran twice for city council in the last two years, might run for the HD 145 race as a Republican in 2008.

All of these seats are known for being strong Democratic areas.  While the newly created TexBlog PAC isn’t going to be involved in influencing the outcomes of these races, we will do our best to continue to cover them.  If you have tips, news, or comments please feel free to write a journal or e-mail me at matt@burntorangereport.com.