In Valley, Democrats Target 2 House Seats Held by GOP
When the 82nd Texas Legislature convened in January 2011, Republicans cheered the inroads they made with Latinos after swearing in five Hispanic members.
Two years later, however, veteran Rep. Aaron Peña, R-Edinburg, and freshman Jose Aliseda, R-Beeville, have opted out, and one new recruit, Rep. J.M. Lozano, R-Kingsville, who switched over to the Republican Party in March, faces a tough primary challenge in his bid to return for his sophomore session. Add to that Rep. Raul Torres, R-Corpus Christi, who is running for Texas Senate, and El Paso Republican Dee Margo, who faces a general election contest ...
Comments (2)
Jose B. Gonzalez via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Pena the traitor received what he deserved - a swift kick on his tail out the door!!!!
Andrea Mend
I really do wish D40 had better qualified candidates for the House to choose from. Out of the four candidates we do have, Canales, Hernandez, and Betancourt have little to no actual, applicable experience. Pena has the most experience, however, there seem to be a lot of trust issues popping up with Mr. Pena and I'm not sure that I find him trustworthy at this point.
That said, my vote is with Terry Canales (although I cringe every time I see the glamour shot on his ads). Canales seems passionate, dedicated, and intelligent. I take issue with Hernandez's touting of a "humble upbringing." I don't know how relatable you really are to most of the humble citizens of District 40 when your family home is a 4500+ sq. ft. beauty. I'm sure a lot of D40 citizens would love that kind of humble upbringing.
Also, I think the candidates' background is very telling. Hernandez himself mentions family background, which I find to be quite relevant when assessing a candidate. Canales was raised in a well-known family dedicated to community service, while Hernandez's family has a questionable past including several close family members with criminal histories, bankruptcies, and on top of it all, their ownership of strip clubs in the Valley area. I know that Hernandez himself was involved in his father's strip clubs for a while which I find very disagreeable. I'm not sure that I would want a person with that kind of moral background and surroundings representing me in the legislature.
I understand that Hernandez's family members' wrong-doings and that Canales's family's past dedication to the community are not necessarily their own, but I do believe that a person's surroundings and the moral teachings and examples one is raised with can be very telling. I've also had the opportunity to observe both in court in their role as attorneys and have not been impressed by Mr. Hernandez's wit or intelligence as an advocate at all and find it very lacking at times. Mr. Canales, in my opinion, does a much better job as an advocate.
Regarding Betancourt, I'm just not sure that his own personal interests in his healthcare business will not influence his decision-making. He further doesn't even seem to be that invested or dedicated to the race for the House and all I get from him is a very tepid "meh." I'm concerned that he would bring the same tepidness to his representation of District 40.
Whoever gets voted in, I sincerely hope he does justice to the people of District 40. We'll be watching