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Thursday, March 18, 2010

Julian Aguilar Reporter

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Julian Aguilar covered the 81st legislative session for the Rio Grande Guardian. Previously, he reported from the border for the Laredo Morning Times. A native of El Paso, he has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Texas at Austin and a master's degree in journalism from the Frank W. Mayborn Graduate Institute of Journalism at the University of North Texas.

jaguilar@texastribune.org
214-718-3332

Recent Contributions

Starving for Reform

by Julian Aguilar  |  3/9/2010  |  1

For two months, inmates in a South Texas immigrant detention facility have been on a staggered hunger strike — what the government calls “voluntary fasting" — to protest alleged abuse, lack of medical care and near-nil access to legal resources.

Once More, With Feeling

by Julian Aguilar  |  3/4/2010  |  1

One candidate lost on Tuesday by 11 votes out of more than 10,000 cast. Others lost by fewer than 200 votes. Anyone up for a recount?

The Dead Incumbents Society

by Julian Aguilar  |  3/3/2010

Which elected officials won't be back next year?

Lists: Runoffs and Outright Winners

by Morgan Smith and Julian Aguilar  |  3/3/2010

Despite their best efforts, several of Tuesday’s candidates couldn’t pull off the needed majority vote to avoid a runoff six weeks from now on April 13. Meanwhile, some voters already know who’s going to the Legislature to represent them in 2011, because the victors face no general election opponents.

Primary Color: HD-43

by Julian Aguilar  |  2/26/2010

Ideological purity is the big issue on March 2 in this South Texas district. Freshman state Rep. Tara Rios Ybarra, D-South Padre Island, touts her "moderate" approach and bipartisan tendencies, but her challenger insists, “The first thing we have to do is get rid of all the closet Republicans from the Democratic Party."

Primary Color: The Final Five

by Reeve Hamilton, Ross Ramsey, Brian Thevenot, Julian Aguilar and Andrew Kreighbaum  |  2/26/2010

This is the final day of early voting — a period in which many more energized and engaged Texans cast ballots for their favorite candidates than their counterparts did in 2006. During the last two weeks, we've published fifteen installments in our Primary Color series, analyzing the marquee contested party primaries for Texas House and Senate seats, for Congressional seats, and for slots on the State Board of Education and the Texas Supreme Court. Today we present the last five of our stories. Brian Thevenot reports on the face-off between very different GOP insiders to take on state Rep. Diana Maldonado, D-Round Rock, in House District 52. Julian Aguilar looks at the ideological purity test in HD-43, where incumbent Tara Rios Ybarra, D-South Padre Island, has been called a "closet Republican" by her Democratic challenger. Reeve Hamilton explains how Democrats have to choose between an Agriculture Commissioner candidate with ranching experience and one who's the consummate promoter. Andrew Kreighbaum weighs in on the six-way free-for-all to succeed retiring Supreme Court Justice Harriet O’Neill in Place 3. And Ross Ramsey contemplates the potential karmic payback of state Rep. Chuck Hopson, of Jacksonville, who quit the Democratic party and filed ...

Primary Color: HD-36

by Julian Aguilar  |  2/24/2010

Embattled state Rep. Ismael “Kino” Flores is quitting, and two Democrats are vying to replace him in one of the state's poorest and least-educated districts — where old-school border politics rule, where no Republicans bothered to file for the general election. After all, this is the Rio Grande Valley.

Trading Places

by Julian Aguilar  |  2/19/2010

Texas, that famous bastion of conservatism, has become a leading exporter of agricultural products to communist Cuba — second only to Louisiana among the 50 states.

The Numbers Game

by Julian Aguilar  |  2/17/2010  |  1

More than 373,000 Texans went uncounted by the 2000 census, resulting in a loss of $1 billion in federal funds. With eight of the nation's 50 hardest-to-count counties right here in our state, the coming 2010 census is a cause for concern — and an apparent lack of attention by elected officials is making matters worse.

The Last Time Around

by Julian Aguilar  |  2/10/2010

How will lawmakers deal with a budget shortfall of at least $11 billion — and maybe several billion more — in the next legislative session? In all likelihood, by doing what they did in 2003, when things were almost this bad.

Budget Cuts, Then and Now

by Julian Aguilar  |  2/10/2010

Texas lawmakers are expecting to find a hole in the state budget — anywhere from $11 billion to $17 billion, maybe even more — when they return to Austin a year from now. That’s the worst forecast since 2003, when they responded to a $10 billion shortfall with reductions in major programs and hikes in various fees. The Texas Tribune’s Julian Aguilar reports on how cuts back then could guide the Legislature's work in 2011.

Ticked

by Julian Aguilar  |  2/1/2010  |  1

The worst outbreak of fever-tick infestations in South Texas in four decades has ranchers and animal-health officials scrambling to prevent not just a loss of billions to the state cattle's industry but an outright ban on our cattle.

The Remedy

by Reeve Hamilton, Morgan Smith and Julian Aguilar  |  1/26/2010

Should Congress salvage health care reform? How? Is it possible? Democrats in the Texas delegation sound off.

Who's Got What

by Julian Aguilar  |  1/22/2010

A review of campaign finance reports for the period from July to December 2009 reveals that some candidates for the Texas House are capable of raising serious money.

Latinos and the Pay Gap

by Julian Aguilar  |  1/18/2010

In Texas, they earn 35 percent less than their Anglo counterparts — a disparity that's bigger here than elsewhere. Is it because of education, age, discrimination, or some combination of the above?