Yesterday the Texas Democratic Party had some scathing (and accurate) things to say about Congressman Henry Bonilla.
Amber Moon stated clearly:
Despite being investigated by the U.S. Justice Department for employing an illegal immigrant, Bonilla continues to give employers who hire them a free pass. Voters in Congressional District 23 deserve a Congressman who stands up for the best interest of Texas families, not a Representative who skirts the law. Henry Bonilla owes it to his constituents to explain why he is talking out of both sides of his mouth. While he says he's tough on immigration, he votes to let employers, like himself, who seek cheap and illegal labor off the hook.
Why Amber, whatever could you mean? (Beware, all materials below the fold are wonky in nature and may be dangerous for children)
(Even John Courage realizes that giving money is the most important thing we can do to help Ciro in this race! Join John, and help Ciro today! - promoted by Phillip Martin)
I want to thank you again for your generous support of my campaign for the 21st Congressional District of Texas and to ask you to make another commitment of support for my friend Democrat Ciro D. Rodriguez, currently in a runoff against Republican Henry Bonilla in the 23rd Congressional District race in South Texas.
The great nationwide Democratic Party victories in the House and Senate, as well as the governorships and legislatures of a majority of states, have given us all something to celebrate, but I want you to realize that the 2006 Congressional races are not over. Here in Texas we still have one more Republican to retire and one more great Democrat to send back to Congress.
The same August re-re-redistricting that changed my CD-21 to favor the incumbent actually put Republican Congressman Henry Bonilla of CD-23 in a more precarious position. Now Ciro Rodriguez, who ably and honorably served four terms in Congress before losing his seat in the wake of DeLay's redistricting scheme, is now on the verge of beating Bonilla in a Dec. 12 runoff and returning to Congress to truly represent the people of South Texas! But he needs our help.
Texas has been the home for majority leaders, House Speakers, Presidents and Vice-Presidents alike, but with the recent national gains for the Democratic Party, Texas has still lost.
On October 20th of this year, Burnt Orange Report saw the writing on the wall. If Democrats won the majority, Texas would be the weakest it has ever been on the national stage.
Not only did Democrats win, the party took both chambers of Congress and relegated our ambitious and power hungry Texas Republicans to bench warmers.
For a quick example, in the past week our two Senators Kay Bailey and John Cornyn have moved up the Republican Leadership latter to become Chair of the Republican Policy Committee and Vice Chair of the Republican Conference respectively. Two major and influential positions... of the minority party. Super, too bad they can't direct policy nor help the state without bipartisan support.
Ciro Rodriguez might get back in the race, but we won’t know until tomorrow. Gina Castañada, Ciro's spokesperson, said he will officially decide whether he is running by 5 p.m. tomorrow. If Rodriguez gets back in the race, this will be the 5 announcement declaring his intent to run for Congress in 4 years.
In another twist, The AFL-CIO has already picked their guy.
The Texas AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education (COPE) endorsed San Antonian Albert Uresti in the special election in the newly drawn Congressional District 23, Texas AFL-CIO President Emmett Sheppard said today.
The AFL-CIO mentioned the reasons for their endorsement to include:
Uresti, a retired district fire chief in the San Antonio Fire Department and a long-time member of the San Antonio Fire Fighters Union, is challenging U.S. Rep. Henry Bonilla, R-San Antonio, in a district that newly includes a large portion of South San Antonio. Past election results suggest the district is closely divided on a partisan basis. Uresti is the brother of state Rep. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio, who is the odds-on favorite to be the next District 19 state senator.
“Union members in C.D. 23 are impressed with Albert Uresti’s understanding of the issues that concern working people,” Sheppard said. “They also are persuaded he will run a proactive campaign in a district that is somewhat similar to the one in which his brother is campaigning so effectively.”
“In an era of gerrymandering, this is clearly a winnable election for a strong challenger against an incumbent who has voted an agenda that is counter to the interest of working families.”
Is this the gold star Uresti needed to catapult himself to become the candidate in CD-23?
Tonight at a meeting at the AFL-CIO Ciro Rodriguez announced he will be withdrawing from the crowded race to unseat Henry Bonilla.
This would have been Rodriguez third attempt at getting back in the House in 4 years and he still had substantial debt from the 2004 race against Henry Cuellar.
That narrows the Democrats down to Albert Uresti, Lukin Gilliland, Rick Bolanos, and Augie Beltran.
The favorite in the race clearly shifts to Gilliland now because of his wide range of support ranging from Treasurer Rep Peunte all the way to Alpine in Rep Gallego. Gilliland has already put $500,000 of his own money in the race, and can clearly put more if needed.
UPDATE: It appears Ciro wasn't completely sure when he said he was bowing out of the race. Gina Castañada, Ciro's spokesperson, said he will officially pick whether he is running on Friday.
