Aaron Peña to retire, says court-drawn map makes his district unwinnable

State Rep. Aaron Peña will retire at the end of this term rather than seek re-election under interim political maps for the Texas House of Representatives that stripped him of a district offering the best opportunity for a Republican candidate to win office in Hidalgo County.

Peña, R-Edinburg, said he will not seek a sixth term in office in a court-drawn district he deemed unwinnable for any Republican candidate, nor will he move to a conservative-friendly district to vie for votes from the constituents of state Rep. Veronica Gonzales, D-McAllen.

Instead, Peña’s campaign to become the first Hidalgo County Republican elected to the state Legislature since Reconstruction has ended prematurely with the release of a statement saying he “accomplished as much as we set out to do when I ran for this office in 2002.”

• Scroll down to read the Edinburg Republican’s full statement, “Ten Good Years of Service to the Community I Love,” and to read his office’s list of his top accomplishments.

Peña said ending his lifelong association with the Democratic Party in December allowed him to criticize flaws with the county’s one-party system and act as an independent voice on issues such as voter integrity, political corruption and border security. He said accusations that his party switch was a play for personal political gain as a “quid pro quo” were baseless.

But after reviewing the interim maps, he said, he decided this week that he didn’t want to subject his family to “the brutal business of politics.”

“As I said then and is now evidently clear, I (switched parties) because I felt it was the right thing to do rather than because I expected a political favor in return,” Peña wrote in a statement. “Providing South Texans with a choice and forcing petty partisans to debate ideas rather than rely on the personality driven politics of the past is a decision I will never regret.

“The Rio Grande Valley is too dynamic, too diverse to be dominated by a single party that lets bullies thrive and enrich themselves and their cronies.”

REDISTRICTING

Peña’s announcement came one week after a federal court released interim political maps that gave the Valley an additional state House seat and largely restored the recently GOP-drawn McAllen district to its original lines.

The court-ordered interim maps will remain in place for next year’s state House and Senate elections until there is a resolution to lawsuits contending the Legislature’s proposals violate sections of the federal 1965 Voting Rights Act.

The court’s temporary maps largely restored House District 41 to its original boundaries, dealing a blow to the Republican Party’s electoral hopes for the seat. Under the proposal drawn this year by a GOP supermajority in Austin, House District 41 was transformed into one of the strongest seats possible for a Republican candidate in Hidalgo County. It was gerrymandered to include affluent portions of McAllen and of the Sharyland area.

The state plan morphed the district from one that supported Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama with 76 percent of the vote in 2008 to one that backed Republican Gov. Rick Perry with just over 50 percent of the vote last year. Peña was the clear beneficiary of the state’s proposal for House District 41 after he was drawn into the district and the incumbent Gonzales was drawn out of it.

But the court’s interim map reversed the Legislature’s changes and made the district one whose residents supported Obama with 57 percent of the vote. And were Peña to relocate and secure his party’s nomination in the district next year, he’d be pitted against Gonzales — were she to emerge from the Democratic primary.

Peña said he shares “philosophical differences” with Gonzales but respects her legislative work, and he has no interest in running for his original Edinburg-based seat, a 75 percent Democratic district.

In launching his campaign this summer, Peña said a key objective would be to give Hidalgo County voters a choice of candidates from both political parties. His departure from the race leaves a void on the Republican side of the ballot, but Peña said the county will eventually offer more opportunities for Hispanic conservatives.

“You’ll continue to see a growth in choice where both parties have to compete for the vote of Hispanic Texans or Anglo Texans, for that matter,” said Peña, the founder and chairman of the state’s newly formed Hispanic Republican Conference. “No party should have a monopoly over anybody’s votes. Otherwise, they take us for granted.”

Peña said he has no immediate political plans but expects to stay involved as a spokesman for Hispanic conservatives. He will serve out the remainder of the term that expires at the end of next year.

CAREER

In an extensive statement announcing his decision to not seek re-election, Peña highlighted legislative accomplishments such as securing funding for an Edinburg Boys & Girls Club facility, a fine arts complex and student fitness center at the University of Texas-Pan American and a substance abuse treatment facility for Hidalgo County. A past chairman of the criminal jurisprudence, technology and emergency preparedness committees, Peña also worked with Valley legislators to lay groundwork for a medical school in South Texas, and he trekked 230 miles from Edinburg to San Antonio alongside local veterans to raise awareness of their pursuit of a veterans hospital here.

Recently he’s become outspoken about the drug violence that has ravaged northern Mexico, calling for more state and federal resources to secure the border against spillover violence.

Peña, an early adopter of social media, has often used Twitter and his blog to take stands on South Texas issues such as the undue influence of politiqueras, voter intimidation at the polls, and political corruption. He used his blog to demand former Precinct 1 Commissioner Sylvia Handy resign days before she pleaded guilty to felony charges, and he worked unsuccessfully this year to pass legislation to curb unnecessary voter assistance that could be used to ensure residents cast ballots a certain way in heated Valley races.

Peña’s opponents have often criticized him of political opportunism. After joining other conservative Democrats in supporting Tom Craddick’s bid for House Speaker, he and other so-called “Craddick D’s” were rewarded with plum committee assignments. Peña’s party switch was also timed to join a supermajority in the state House after the GOP’s romp in the November 2010 elections.

But Peña himself said his lasting legacy from office will be the completion of the substance abuse treatment facility that bears the name of his son, John Austin Peña, whose death from a drug overdose spurred Peña’s first run for office.

Peña, who secured $3 million in funding for the north Edinburg facility that opened in October on what would have been the 27^th birthday of his son, said its completion offered a fitting final chapter to his career in the state House.

“I ran for a purpose. I accomplished that purpose,” Peña said. “The price is too high on my family, my friends and my colleagues for what is in front of us. I would rather leave on my own terms with as little violence to those relationships as possible.”

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Jared Janes covers Hidalgo County government, Edinburg and legislative issues for The Monitor. He can be reached at jjanes@themonitor.com and (956) 683-4424.

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Follow Jared Janes on Twitter: @moncounty

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In His Own Words

'Top Accomplishments - Rep. Aaron Peña'

(Source: Peña's office)

1. Health, Family: State-built Drug Treatment Center ($3M)
2. Health: UTPA Student Wellness and Recreation Center ($25M)
3. Education: UTPA Fine Arts Academic and Performance Complex ($40M)
4. Education: UTPA Regional Academic Health Center ($5M)
5. Education: Passage of future Valley Medical School
6. Child Safety: Jessica’s Law and Other Tough Child Sexual Predator Legislation,
7. Military: Texas Legislative Medal of Honor to Freddy Gonzalez and Pedro Cano, Military Toll Booth Exemptions
8. Veterans: Championed Construction of Veterans’ Hospital for South Texas, Veterans Walk to San Antonio
9. Border and Homeland Security: Secured over $110M each Legislative Session for Border Region, Chaired Interim Committee on Emergency Preparedness, Internet Security from Foreign Attacks, University Emergency Alert System,
10. Election Reform: Championed Election Integrity Legislation, Passage of Voter ID, Petition Allowing County to Run City or School Elections
11. Anti-Crime, Pro-Business: Organized Retail Crime Bill
12. Jobs: HHSC “Maximus” Call Center; Provided Over 400 Jobs
13. Jobs: Santana Textiles; Provided Over 800 Jobs
14. Parks: Secured Funding in the Amount of $750,000 for a Park at the New Edinburg Boys and Girls Club Facility
15. Leadership: Chairman of Criminal Jurisprudence and Technology Committees, Hispanic Republican Conference, Select Committee on Emergency Preparedness; Current Member of Redistricting, Voter ID and Voter Fraud, and Homeland Security Committees; Past Member of Powerful Appropriations and Ways and Means Committees

In His Own Words

'Ten Good Years of Service to the Community I Love'

'State Rep. Aaron Peña Announces Intention to Not Seek Re-Election to Texas House'

(Source: Peña's office)

After conversations over the last few days with family and friends I have decided not to seek re-election to the Texas House of Representatives. At the end of my fifth term I would have served a good ten years and feel that we have accomplished as much as we set out to do when I ran for this office in 2002.

At the beginning of the legislative redistricting process I advised colleagues and map drawers that my goal was to present a map that gave every incumbent in the Rio Grande Valley a legislative district that they could win. We did just that. Unfortunately, the map drawn and designated by the three judge federal redistricting panel undid that work. The district I have been placed in is a 75% Democratic seat. It is unwinnable by me or any Republican candidate and I will not move into another legislative district to run against a colleague.

My decision to switch parties was met with derision by many who accused me of doing so as a quid pro quo. As I said then and is now evidently clear I did so because I felt it was the right thing to do rather than because I expected a political favor in return. Providing South Texans with a choice and forcing petty partisans to debate ideas rather than rely on the personality driven politics of the past is a decision I will never regret. The Rio Grande Valley is too dynamic, too diverse to be dominated by a single party that lets bullies thrive and enrich themselves and their cronies.

My decision ten years ago to run for office was spurred by a family tragedy that highlighted the dire need for drug treatment services for our community. Shortly after winning election to the Texas House I, joined by family and friends, set out on a ‘promesa’, a walk, from a highly respectable but private substance abuse treatment facility in the hill country of Central Texas to the State Capitol. The walk was meant to call attention to and begin the drive for a meaningful dialogue on the impact that drug and alcohol abuse was having in all our communities. In my third term of office, I secured $3 million in state funding for a substance abuse treatment facility for Hidalgo County. After finding another $400 thousand for the storm proofing of the building, Hidalgo County began construction of the facility. It is now complete and will be serving adolescents and their families in a location east of Edinburg on Schunior Road.

Much to the chagrin of my family, I have completely dedicated my life to public service. I was once a wealthy man. I have traded that material wealth for a spiritual and emotional growth that I cannot regret. It is time to bring focus back to a family that has been supportive beyond all reasonable expectations. I am so proud to have been given the opportunity to serve my community and will continue to seek ways to do so. I am so proud of a hardworking and dedicated staff that has helped me and this office accomplish so much. Our strength has been in remaining independent of the partisanship that mars local politics, of late affected the Texas Legislature and has virtually paralyzed Washington, D.C. for generations.

That independence allowed me to put the needs of my community before the dictates of party bosses and special interest groups. The construction of the Substance Abuse Treatment Center, securing funding of $750,000 for a park at the new Boys and Girls Club facility in Edinburg, the passage of bonds for a $40 million fine arts complex at UTPA, legislation authorizing the construction of a $25 million Student Fitness and Wellness Center also at UTPA were all made possible because of relationships built on trust and mutual respect. The establishment and success of the Regional Academic Health and the emergence of a Medical School for South Texas are great achievements that I share with many local and state leaders.

My election to the Texas House in 2002 coincided with the selection of the first Republican Speaker of the House since Reconstruction. As a Democrat I was asked to serve on substantive committees like the powerful Appropriations Committee and the tax writing committee Ways and Means. I served as a Chairman of Committees on Criminal Jurisprudence, Technology and Emergency Preparedness under two different Speakers. At the beginning of this past legislative session I founded the Hispanic Republican Conference and was joined in this effort by five other newly elected Hispanic Republican House members.

Independence allowed me to take on issues that were unpopular to partisans in South Texas but important to the rest of the community. Talking about the importance of voter integrity, the undue influence of politiqueras in the process, the corruption at the local, county and state level by bullies left unchecked were met by threats of retribution and on more than one occasion a challenge at the polls. On the issue of Voter ID I was firmly behind the will of the people of my community.

On homeland and border security I once again stood at odds with some local, state and federal officials that believe sticking your head in the sand is a viable policy in confronting the violence that has ravaged Northern Mexico over the last few years. I have been a vocal proponent of increasing federal, state and local law enforcement resources in order to continue to secure our border. In the last two sessions I have called for and supported over $110 million in state funding each biennium for the border region. It is not important whose definition is used to attribute violence in our community as spillover from the cartel wars in Northern Mexico. We must not think that we are building up an arsenal of hardware and manpower to prepare for an eventuality of a drug war in South Texas but it is our duty to our children and every Texan to be vigilant and guard against the possibility of the occurrence of that threat.

Arguably one of our communities’ proudest achievements lies on the self sacrifice and service of countless of military veterans and their families. I remain an ardent supporter of the commitment of local, state and federal resources for the construction of a full-fledged veteran’s hospital for the Rio Grande Valley. I have stood with veterans on every major and minor piece of legislation over my career. From reducing the tax burden on disabled veterans to passing legislation conferring the Legislative Medal of honor to Edinburg heroes Freddy Gonzales and Pedro Cano, I have been proud to do my part in honoring our citizen soldiers. I joined veterans of South Texas in a walk from Edinburg to San Antonio to highlight the trip that many have faced in receiving health care. The walk, a march to the veterans that I joined in the 230 mile trek, was a simple act rooted in a deep and meaningful gesture. I will never forget the friendships earned on that trip and I will never give up on the fight for getting those veterans and the others that will follow the hospital they deserve.

I have had the honor of working with national and international business leaders and local and state officials to bring much needed jobs to our community. I have been woken in the middle of the night by parents of drug addicted youths at their wits’ end. Great gestures come from grand designs, multi-billion dollar enterprises that traverse continents and create jobs and wealth but they also come from kind words and extending a helping hand to someone in need.

My wife and children allowed me the luxury of working full-time, seven days a week at a job that pays $7200 a year. To Monica, Adrienne, Aaron, Alyssa, Anthony and John, thank you. I am so grateful for the opportunity that I was given to serve the community I love so much.