Obama campaign office located in building managed by big-time Clinton supporter

McALLEN — A campaign office for Sen. Barack Obama is situated in a building managed by a major local supporter of his rival for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Staffers for Obama work behind tinted glass inside the North McAllen office of real estate firm Select Properties. The cluster of com-mercial buildings at 4500 N. 10th St., however, is managed by Rio Grande Valley construction magnate and faithful Clinton backer Alonzo Cantu.

There are no visible signs advertising the location as an Obama campaign office, but campaign literature distributed when Obama staff flooded the Valley last week encourages volunteers to stop in there.

The tenant of that space, meanwhile, says the location is not the main Obama campaign office in McAllen but rather is simply a workspace for the campaign.

“There’s probably a mix-up on the address,” Select Properties owner Vicki Chrysler said of the campaign literature distributed last week.

On Thursday, however, Obama campaign staffers ate pizza while surfing the Internet at the Select Properties location. They refused to talk about the arrangement with Chrysler.

Chrysler said she loaned that office space and space at other local offices to the Obama campaign free of charge. However, Obama campaign staffers said Saturday that their candidate’s only office in the McAllen area is at the Select Properties location at 4500 N. 10th St.

Subletting isn’t allowed at that property, Cantu said.

“Tell Vicki her rent’s going up,” he said. “She’s making comments to the press. Besides, she’s not supposed to sublet.”

Cantu has been a faithful Clinton supporter for years, throwing lavish political fundraisers that have earned the New York senator thousands in campaign contributions. The Washington Post featured him in a November front-page story for his close ties with the Clintons.

Cantu and Chrysler have been friends for more than 20 years. Each said there’s no bad blood between them despite their political differences.

“He’s mad at me because I’m backing Obama,” Chrysler said.

“I love Hillary,” she added. “But I just don’t feel that she has the credibility to run the country at this point.”

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Sean Gaffney covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4434.