Judge's race heats up in waning days of campaign

EDINBURG -- As an appointed Republican judge running for election in a down-ticket race, Daniel Rios normally wouldn't stand a chance of keeping his seat on the bench here.

Hidalgo County overwhelmingly votes Democrat and often embraces all of the candidates the party puts forward. But the 43-year-old incumbent on the county's 449th state District Court has sensed a dramatic turn for the better in his political fortunes in recent weeks.

Following the Sept. 21 arrest of his Democratic challenger, Jesse Contreras, on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, Rios has hit the campaign trail with renewed vigor, touting his own qualifications and questioning his opponent's moral character.

"What people tell me - especially since Sept. 21 - is that people are voting for the person not the party," he said. "This should not be a race based solely on party affiliation."

But Contreras, who won his party's nomination in a landslide in March, argues that Rios' attacks have gone so far as to border on defamation.

"It's part of being in politics," the Democrat said. "But they've hit below the belt."

THE CHALLENGER

Both men are vying for the bench at the county's newest state district court.

State legislators created the 449th last year with the intention that it handle juvenile cases and lighten the load for the county's other judges.

And Contreras, a strikingly tall lawyer and municipal judge, says his past has uniquely prepared him to handle young offenders.

The product of a single-parent household in the poor outskirts of Mercedes, he grew up in the social and economic conditions typically blamed for fostering juvenile crime.

After earning a degree and serving a short stint as a professional basketball player in Mexico, he turned to law school and eventually opened his own family law and criminal defense practice. He currently holds the title of municipal judge in his old hometown of Mercedes.

"I was educated here. I didn't go to Harvard (University), Princeton (University) or any of those fancy schools," he said. "I'm a product of Hidalgo County. I am the community."

But critics say Contreras may be too closely tied to Mercedes.

Earlier this year, Virginia Townsend - head of the government watchdog group Objective Watchers of the Legal System - filed a complaint against him with the State Commission on Judicial Conduct.

Over the past five years, Contreras has gone on to defend at least seven accused offenders against charges he had formerly arraigned them on in municipal court, she said in filings with the oversight board.

If true, the allegation would pose a conflict of interest that could call the fairness of their cases into question.

The judicial conduct commission has yet to respond to Townsend's complaint.

Contreras said he had not heard about her accusations but could not categorically deny that he had never taken on clients who once appeared before his bench.

"I try to look into the background of all of my cases before taking them on," he said. "But if it did occur, I'll have to correct it."

More recently, Contreras found himself the subject of unwanted attention over an encounter with law enforcement.

After a disturbance at a South Padre Island nightspot, police pulled over the candidate's car nearly three miles from the bar. Contreras and a 21-year-old female companion were arrested on alcohol-related charges.

Within days, the judge's mugshot was plastered across the news and found a place on Rios' campaign Web site.

While Contreras has not been convicted of that DWI charge, he urges voters to look past his mistakes.

"A person is composed of a hundred million things," he said. "They should consider the arrest, but they should be concerned with everything else, too."

THE INCUMBENT

Rios, however, has seized on these perceived weaknesses in recent weeks, hoping they will raise questions that could sway voters to his camp.

Before Contreras' arrest, Rios maintained a relatively low profile. But as the story hit the news, campaign signs popped up across the county almost overnight.

The Republican is currently running a series of television ads highlighting Contreras' record and criticizing his character.

Rios describes his heightened campaign efforts in the wake of his opponent's arrest as a coincidence. But his challenger smells political opportunism.

During an interview with The Monitor this week, Contreras took issue with an automated phone bank employed by the Rios campaign that placed pre-recorded calls to numbers across Hidalgo County.

In the message, the Democrat said, Rios' campaign accuses Contreras' father of being a child molester.

"I didn't even know my father," Contreras said. "(Those claims) are a possibility for a future defamation lawsuit."

No one in the Mercedes area contacted by The Monitor reported receiving the negative calls, and Contreras' claims could not be independently verified.

Rios flatly denies his opponent's claim about the message. The Rios campaign is using automated calls, the Republican acknowledged, but the message only replays an audio version of TV ads questioning Contreras' criminal history and judicial conduct.

Instead, Rios said, he is relying on his education and experience to win the election.

A graduate of Princeton and the University of Texas law school, Rios has worked as an assistant district attorney, a private lawyer specializing in commercial litigation and eventually the Edinburg city attorney.

Gov. Rick Perry appointed him to helm the 449th in 2007, soon after the court's creation.

"It's a whole new experience being on the bench," Rios said. "You need judicial temperance and the ability to keep a cool head."

11 DAYS LEFT

A scheduled debate between the candidates Thursday at a McAllen Citizens League luncheon could have offered a chance to clear the air and refocus the campaign on issues surrounding the court - such as its future focusing on juvenile justice.

Contreras has said he would like the court's scope broadened to include cases with adult defendants. Rios maintains the county needs a court focused specifically on young offenders.

But Contreras backed out of the debate this week, citing his busy campaign schedule.

League leaders said during the luncheon, however, that the candidate explained his withdrawal to them by saying that McAllen doesn't support him and that he would rather focus his efforts elsewhere.

And with early voting in full swing and 11 days to go until the last ballot is cast, Contreras says he has turned his attention solely to the campaign trail.

"I'm not perfect. I understand," he said. "But I've worked my butt off to be an example to my brothers and the community.

"I want to show these kids that if you have a dream, you can achieve it."

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Jeremy Roebuck covers courts and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4437.