We aren't trying to write about HD-32 every day, but man Todd Hunter is bad guy and horrid candidate. In three days, he has made at least three major errors-- lying to voters, attacking a decorated veteran, and concealing important documents from voters.
In the same week that Nueces County GOP Chair Mike Bertuzzi questioned the "worthiness" of State Rep. Juan Garcia's donation to the Center for the Intrepid (the nation's premiere rehabilitation facility for our most seriously injured, burned and maimed service personnel) because, get this, the facility is not in Rep. Garcia's District (not joking, see the Caller Times), challenger Todd Hunter showed how little regard he holds for military service.
During their first head-to-head debate, the two were asked by an audience member whether they would make their tax records available to the media. Garcia immediately committed to unconditionally releasing the tax records. In a bizarre answer captured on video, an indignant Hunter snarled "you won't get my wife's" (reminiscent of Garcia’s last opponent and Hunter’s supporter Gene Seaman and his hiding of a luxury Town Lake condo kept in his wife's name but paid for with campaign contributions), and then made the release of his own tax returns conditional on Rep. Garcia releasing his military records.
Hunter never served in the military, but has no shame in apparently searching for ways to turn someone else's service against them. Ironically, Garcia, a decorated naval aviator who spent 13 years on active duty and continues to serve as a naval instructor pilot in the reserves at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, will be promoted to the rank of Commander in June, and was just selected to take command of the VT-28 Squadron Augment Unit in October.
District 32 contains NAS Corpus Christi, Naval Station Ingleside, the Corpus Christi Army Depot, and many residents who commute to nearby Naval Air Station Kingsville. They honor military service. A big part of Garcia's 2006 victory was due to the reality that the bonds of sacrifice and service run deeper than partisan affiliation. Chickenhawks like Bertuzzi and Hunter are further proof that this GOP has lost touch with voters and that Garcia is going to win again.
Sour grapes are funny things. After the amazing victory by Juan Garcia over Republican Gene Seaman in the Coastal Bend in 2006, local republican officials just cannot come to grips with reality. Repeatedly, the Nueces County GOP apparatus continues to swing wildly into the air, hitting nothing and looking like fools.
First, since his win, four frivolous ethics complaints againt Rep. Garcia filed by local GOP officials have been dismissed by the Ethics Commission.
Second, former Nueces County Republican Chair Joel Yowell filed a massive public information request of Rep. Garcia’s State Representative office, including every email, phone call and employee document ever generated by the office. After Garcia's staff was forced to burn dozens of taxpayer-paid man-hours complying with his request, Yowell sent the records back unopened, simply changing his mind. Yowell gave no reason for his sudden change of heart. I suspect he is afraid of what happens if we peer into his house.
Third, in an even more bizarre episode, Republican staffer and campaign consultant, Todd Gallaher, got caught using state computers for campaign work, created an email account designed to look like it was from Rep. Garcia and tried to blackmail a sitting Coastal Bend Sheriff. Later, he lied to an ethics watchdog group who filed a complaint against his boss by claiming to be Dallas Morning New reporter.
This week, Mike Bertuzzi, current Nueces County Republican Chair, sent out 20,000 mailers attacking Rep. Juan Garcia for not returning campaign contributions given by Corpus Christi businessman Mauricio Celis. Not surprisingly, Bertuzzi, the ring leader of this bumbling "gang that couldn't shoot straight", didn't bother to check his facts.
Last January, Garcia donated the Celis money to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, which serves severly injured American service personnel from South Texas.
The “Center for the Intrepid” serves military personnel who have been catastrophically disabled in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and veterans severely injured in other operations and in the normal performance of their duties.
Here is clip of Rep. Garcia addressing the local media on the false mailers:
