El Paso Politics

Burnt Orange Report, the most influential Democratic blog in the State of Texas, issued their endorsement of Mary Gonzalez in HD 75. In fact, they did so, "enthusiastically, unanimously, and emphatically..."  You can read the entire endorsement here . Her opponent Hector Enriquez was raked over the Democratic coals pretty thoroughly by the Burnt Orange Report. In part they said, "Hector Enriquez is not deserving of Democratic support owing to his three donations to Rick Perry, and individual that has done more to hurt the residents of HD-75 than just about any other elected official in Texas history." Damn! The piece goes on to say that "This is a Democratic district, and voters should elect the candidate they can trust to advocate for their needs at the Capitol. That person is Mary Gonzalez." And since I'm on the topic of Enriquez and since we are talking about the Perry donations...did you see that article in the El Paso Times? If you didn't, go ...

The ugly side of campaigning appears yet again. And yes, in the cliche that is politics in the lower valley. This is the vandalism that was done to Mary Gonzalez's signs. These are signs that are just a matter of feet from her home in Clint. What is the point of such a personal attack? And why such a stupid attack? Comunista? What is this Cuba? This might be the dumbest attack I've ever seen. But its so personal and thats why its infuriating. Who does this kind of crap? And people screwing with signs has happened much more this election than in previous elections. Liza Montelongo's campaign happened to have been the target of a very coordinated attack on her signs throughout Precinct 1.  It wasn't and isolated attack either. Here is another sign. This isn't some random act. This was strategic and personal. It has a message and its targeted specifically at Gonzalez. So its not some kid just screwing around in the middle of the night with some spray paint. Its an act ...

They were everywhere this weekend. All over the place, especially in the valley. Candidates and their volunteers making one last push for early voting. Some candidates like Rick Melendrez, candidate for El Paso County Democratic Party Chair just started their campaigning this weekend. Actually, I should say visible campaigning. He launched a website. He says he's been "guerilla" campaigning. I've been around a lot of campaigns. I've never seen that work. But some candidates need to do a better job of informing their campaign volunteers about what is and is not legal campaign activities. Turns out a friend of mine was a little freaked out to see that campaign workers had actually been in her mail box and deposited some material for this candidate: FYI, you can only put US mail in mailboxes. 

You've probably already seen these, they have been all over the place on TV. Word on the street is that the Castillo camp has another one up their sleeve too. Working on getting a hold of that one.

This is just my take on how early voting will go down. And since elections are pretty much over on early voting, this is what I think will be the results. These aren't endorsements. No one is helped by my endorsement and there is not a soul on this planet that makes a decision about who they are going to vote for based on what I write. Congress District 23 - I think this race is between Ciro Rodriguez and Pete Gallego in El Paso County. I think Ciro squeaks out ahead in El Paso County but I am not real firm on that one. Best guess. Congress District 16 - This race is a hell of a lot closer than people think. Its a low voter turnout race because its the day after Memorial Day and the election has been moved, etc. So in a low voter turn-out race, I think Reyes also eeks out a narrow victory over O'Rourke. And by narrow, I mean single digits. Looks like I'm gonna have to pay up on a bet too. I know the media will make this look Reyes is going to lose, but I think he's goin...

A source indicated Dora Oaxaca, candidate for El Paso County Commissioner Precinct #3 has purchased airtime for commercials to run on Channel 26. No word on if the spots start this weekend or start on Monday. It will be interesting to see her campaign finance report because I noticed they hadn't sent any mail so it explains were some of the money went to. There is a production cost and airtime. Its usually cheaper if you get a station to do the production of the spot, but you have less flexibility when that happens. And its not a surprise she went with 26 because she's focused most of her campaign on being able to speak Spanish. Its a bit of a surprise that she bought airtime though. If worked the ground right you usually don't need to buy airtime for small races like that, but she may feel like she needs to bring in the big guns to make sure she makes a run off. This is going to be interesting. I can't wait to see the spot.