Robert Grijalva Puts Early Brakes on Candidacy

I posted a piece about a month ago about the possibility of Robert Grijalva, staffer for State Rep Chente Quintanilla and former staffer for former State Rep Paul Moreno, running against the State Rep that retired Moreno, Marissa Marquez.

The Times eventually wrote a piece about Grijalva possibly running against Marissa Marquez. There were some interesting quotes from Marquez that I will discuss later in this piece.

But essentially, Marquez scared of Grijalva. He issued the following press release earlier this week in order to end the conversation about his possible bid:

Chief of Staff Grijalva Puts an End to Rumors of Candidacy



There have been rumors for some time now that I had decided to file as a candidate in


State House District 77. In order to eliminate the uncertainty of the rumors, I am


informing the public that I shall not seek office in the 2012 primary elections.


After returning from my duties during each of the past 3 legislative sessions, I initiated a


process of evaluating my potential run for office. I had intended to do the same during


the summer months following this session. The process was nothing more than assessing


the political climate and my position in it. I shall not engage in this process after this


session.


It is unfortunate that a rumor arose from my regular political evaluation. In this case, the


rumor was given legs by overly enthusiastic friends or supporters. The rumor, and the


way it spread, created the impression that there was a foregone conclusion about my


intentions. This caused considerable angst among the El Paso delegation with the


potential of a serious rift; understandably so.


I was responsible for preventing the situation from escalating and I failed. For that I


apologize to the residents of District 77 and El Paso. I have spoken with the delegation


and issued an apology personally to each.


It is my hope that by making this definitive statement the delegation can put this in the


past and go forward with the session united.


Robert Grijalva
 
I took issue with Grijalva referring to it as a rumor because I had taken the time to call him and get confirmation. He gave a quote that did not close the door to the idea of run. That was strategic on his part. If he wasn't contemplating a run, he simply could have told me so. Instead he said, "Lots of people are asking me to run...I haven't made a decision yet. When I do, I will make the best decision for the community."
 
When I called him to let him know I took issue with him referring to it as a rumor when he in fact had given a quote that neither confirmed nor denied the idea that he was running, he took time to give me his side of things and I was appreciative of the fact that he did so.
 
But its hard to dismiss something as gossip when his quote is "...I haven't made a decision yet".
 
In Zahira Torres' piece on the El Paso Times Capitol Report Blog, Representative Marquez makes a questionable remark. She says, "It may put lobbyists in a difficult position.”


Who cares? Lobbyists are certainly part of the system, but why the hell should we care about them? Many people believe lobbyists have too much influence on the system as it is, remarks like that substantiate the fears of some voters.