Tamayo Carpetbagging - We've Seen This Movie Before
I had a Facebook exchange yesterday that inspired me to write this post because the conversation reminded me of something really important.
We've seen a candidate that was recruited to run for a seat in a community they don't live in before. Tamayo certainly isn't the first, but in terms of HD 76, she's a first. State Reps from HD 76 have traditionally had strong roots in HD 76, Cesar Blanco has a home in San Antonio but he at least went to high school here. The other people that have held HD 76 have very strong roots in this community.
Tamayo has almost no ties to HD 76 and only some thin connective tissue to El Paso but she was recruited specifically by the delegation to run for the seat being vacated by Cesar Blanco because "they all get along".
Now don't get me wrong, getting along as a delegation is important. It wasn't always the case. Norma Chavez, who once held the HD 76 seat was notorious for not being able to get along with anyone but her ugly ass dog. She's since tried to rewrite history and act like she was some sort of stateswoman, but she wasn't. She was a temperamental joke of a state representative.
But the people of HD 76 deserve someone who will be an advocate for them and their needs. They deserve someone who knows and understands them. They deserve someone is actually one of them. Someone who is actually from the district.
There is absolutely no way that someone can say that Tamayo is from the district...because she isn't. By her own admission she was born here and her family left and she grew up in Chihuahua. She came back and got a GED from EPCC after living abroad in Europe. She went to UTEP and then went to Austin to work for most of the state delegation in some capacity. She's in her 20's so if she was 18 when she started at UTEP and spent 4 years there, then that is pretty much the most amount of time she can say she lived in El Paso, but she was living off Stanton back then. Not in HD 76.
Anywho, my little internet discussion with a long time friend actually reminded me that we have seen this movie before. So lets take a little trip down Memory Lane, shall we?
As I said yesterday, State Rep Joe Moody hired Tamayo so she could have a part-time gig here in town. How much time she actually spends working versus how much time she spends campaigning is anyone's guess.
But Joe Moody has his seat today because of this exact situation. A candidate who didn't live in his district was recruited to run against long-time state representative Pat Haggerty. Back then, people paid attention to stuff like that. So did the media.
The fact that an out-of-district candidate was recruited to run for the seat was such a big deal that it led to my favorite local political commercial of all time.
Thats the late Ma Haggerty with her son Pat Haggerty in a commercial about Dee Margo who was running for HD 78.
Margo defeated Haggerty and later went on to lose to ... wait for it...Joe Moody!
Who has now hired someone from out of town that is running for a state legislative seat she was recruited to run for but doesn't really live in!
I mean you just can't make this stuff up.
And people in HD 76 probably do have cartons of milk in their fridge that have been in the district longer than Elisa Tamayo.
We've seen a candidate that was recruited to run for a seat in a community they don't live in before. Tamayo certainly isn't the first, but in terms of HD 76, she's a first. State Reps from HD 76 have traditionally had strong roots in HD 76, Cesar Blanco has a home in San Antonio but he at least went to high school here. The other people that have held HD 76 have very strong roots in this community.
Tamayo has almost no ties to HD 76 and only some thin connective tissue to El Paso but she was recruited specifically by the delegation to run for the seat being vacated by Cesar Blanco because "they all get along".
Now don't get me wrong, getting along as a delegation is important. It wasn't always the case. Norma Chavez, who once held the HD 76 seat was notorious for not being able to get along with anyone but her ugly ass dog. She's since tried to rewrite history and act like she was some sort of stateswoman, but she wasn't. She was a temperamental joke of a state representative.
But the people of HD 76 deserve someone who will be an advocate for them and their needs. They deserve someone who knows and understands them. They deserve someone is actually one of them. Someone who is actually from the district.
There is absolutely no way that someone can say that Tamayo is from the district...because she isn't. By her own admission she was born here and her family left and she grew up in Chihuahua. She came back and got a GED from EPCC after living abroad in Europe. She went to UTEP and then went to Austin to work for most of the state delegation in some capacity. She's in her 20's so if she was 18 when she started at UTEP and spent 4 years there, then that is pretty much the most amount of time she can say she lived in El Paso, but she was living off Stanton back then. Not in HD 76.
Anywho, my little internet discussion with a long time friend actually reminded me that we have seen this movie before. So lets take a little trip down Memory Lane, shall we?
As I said yesterday, State Rep Joe Moody hired Tamayo so she could have a part-time gig here in town. How much time she actually spends working versus how much time she spends campaigning is anyone's guess.
But Joe Moody has his seat today because of this exact situation. A candidate who didn't live in his district was recruited to run against long-time state representative Pat Haggerty. Back then, people paid attention to stuff like that. So did the media.
The fact that an out-of-district candidate was recruited to run for the seat was such a big deal that it led to my favorite local political commercial of all time.
Thats the late Ma Haggerty with her son Pat Haggerty in a commercial about Dee Margo who was running for HD 78.
Margo defeated Haggerty and later went on to lose to ... wait for it...Joe Moody!
Who has now hired someone from out of town that is running for a state legislative seat she was recruited to run for but doesn't really live in!
I mean you just can't make this stuff up.
And people in HD 76 probably do have cartons of milk in their fridge that have been in the district longer than Elisa Tamayo.
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