What Candidates Should Know About Tejano Democrats

I've written about this several times now, but for some reason it just hasn't clicked with people. So if you are a candidate, or an elected official that is a member of the Paso Del Norte Tejano Democrats, you should be aware of something very important.

The Paso Del Norte Tejano Democrats are not set-up as a political action committee (PAC). Meaning they cannot collect or contribute from or to political campaigns. I write this now for your own good.

An organization cannot collect or spend more than $500 without filing the necessary paperwork to become a PAC. That is a lifetime threshold. That means within the lifetime of the organization they cannot spend or collect more than that amount.

That is an amount that they exceeded a loooooooonnnggg time ago.

Recently at a fundraiser for Danny Anchondo, the head of the Tejano Democrats Blanche Darley, pledged $1000 to Anchondo if he ran for re-election. That's what was what reminded me about the Tejanos. If you are a Democratic organization in town, you should comply with the rules. The Tejano Democrats aren't the only organization that has that problem either.

The Black El Paso Democrats are also not set up as a PAC. They have also been spending and collecting money.

The Tejano Dems spend and solicit money every year. In the last election they were pretty much the only organization outside of the TLR that donated to State Rep Naomi Gonzalez' campaign. In that contribution alone they exceeded the lifetime threshold. But they had done so long before that contribution.

Every Presidential and Gubernatorial election the Tejano's go in halfers with candidates for a commercial. All the candidates that win the endorsement of the Tejano Democrats can bee in the commercial as long as they pay for half of the cost.

In one spot, when you consider production and airtime, they spent more than $500.

They are aware that they need to be a PAC. Yet they keep breaking the rules.

That is bad for the entire Party. In an era with an intense focus on corruption we have to be the vanguards of ethical behavior as a Party. So far the only Democratic organizations that I am aware of that are in compliance and set-up properly are The Stonewall Democrats of El Paso, The El Paso Stonewall Young Democrats, and the El Paso Young Democrats.

If you are a candidate, you should be worried about accepting a contribution from an organization that is not set-up in accordance with the rules. As a Democrat, you should be worried about contributing to an organization that is not set-up in accordance with the rules.

You make the whole Party look bad when you know the rules but refuse the follow them. And just because other clubs are not compliant doesn't mean its okay for your organization to be out of compliance.

Its not difficult to get the paperwork done necessary to be in compliance. There is no excuse for not getting it done. The Tejanos and any other organization should keep that in mind before they start soliciting money or spending money on big fancy annual dinners.

Otherwise, someone might file a complaint.

And be public about it.