Rodriguez launches campaign for District 36 House seat

Candidates who have so far announced plans to run for House District 36

Ismael “Kino” Flores (incumbent)

Age: 49

Profession: Owner of a business consulting firm. He said he represents franchisees in rights-of-way negotiations with cities, counties and other entities.

Family: Wife Debra, a counselor at Mission High School. Two sons.

Education: Attended El Paso Community College; bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas-Pan American.

Sandra Rodriguez

Age: 48

Profession: Office manager for the McAllen law firm of her husband, Fernando Mancias.

Family: Husband Fernando Mancias, attorney and former state district judge. Three daughters and one son.

Education: Bachelor’s degree from Southwest Texas State University; master’s degree from the University of Texas-Pan American; teaching certificate from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi

Sources: candidates

AUSTIN — A former teacher and probation officer is challenging Rep. Ismael “Kino” Flores in next year’s Democratic primary election.

Sandra Rodriguez, 48, said she is seeking the District 36 seat primarily because Flores was absent from the Legislature the day the Texas House voted on a contentious voter identification bill.

His absence

Flores, a Palmview Democrat, was one of three of the 150 House members absent on April 23 when the contentious voter ID bill faced its crucial vote in the House.

The Republican-backed measure, which later died in the Senate, would have required voters to bring a photo ID or two forms of non-photo ID to the polls, instead of only a voter registration card. It’s become a hot partisan issue nationwide because Democrats believe it will discourage likely supporters from voting, since those less likely to have ID tend to vote for Democrats.

Rodriguez said she took Flores’ absence as a sign of loyalty to Republican House Speaker Tom Craddick, with whom Flores aligned himself.

Flores said he left Austin for his home the night before the vote because he wasn’t feeling well and because he “wanted to tend to some things, but it was more illness than anything else.”

He said he made arrangements to pair his vote with another lawmaker, which means the colleague who would have voted for the bill agreed to abstain, thereby making Flores’ vote against the bill count.

Flores said Rodriguez’s criticism of his alliance with Craddick shows she does not understand the process at the Legislature or the importance of working with the leadership.

“We are already divided by region, by culture, by different political parties, so when you get up there, you’ve got to be able to use what you’ve got,” Flores said.

The incumbent

Sworn in as a House member in 1997, Flores touts his record working on veterans issues, helping to establish the World Birding Center, increasing teacher pay and funneling money to Rio Grande Valley transportation, border security and parks projects.

He will likely draw strength from a fierce and well established campaign machine that has a proven record of getting his supporters to the polls, said Kelly Fero, an Austin Democratic consultant who is not involved in the District 36 race and called Flores a longtime friend.

But Flores is vulnerable in a Democratic primary because he has acted as a lieutenant to Craddick, said Fero, who has been hired by Edinburg engineer Eddie Saenz in his attempt to oust another of Craddick’s Democratic allies, state Rep. Aaron Peña of Edinburg.

Gender could insert some dynamics into the District 36 race, too, Fero said. Polling suggests that in the Valley and nationwide, more women are expected to vote in the March Democratic primary than in years past, which could give Rodriguez an edge.

“It’s always difficult for a man to run against a woman,” Fero said. “A man can easily cross the lines of aggression and look like a bully, and of course in Kino’s case that’s a very real problem.”

Flores, who is chairman of the House committee on Licensing and Administrative Procedures, said he will be able to use his seniority to gain more leverage to represent his district.

The challenger

Rodriguez was born and raised in Mission.

After college, she worked for more than six years as a probation officer, then later as a law enforcement teacher at local high schools, taking time off to raise her four children.

She now works as the office manager for her husband, McAllen attorney and former state District Judge Fernando Mancias.

If elected, she wants to channel more money to Valley schools and further increase the rolls of the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Her experience in education and law enforcement will help her develop policies to steer at-risk children away from crime through mentoring and intervention, she said.

“We need to be proactive in the earliest ages of our children, not spend all our money in junior high and high school, when it’s too late,” Rodriguez said.

A former Pharr-San Juan-Alamo school board member, she said she counts her father as an important influence in her life. Arnulfo “Tatan” Rodriguez was a Mission barber and councilman.

Candidates who want to run in the March 4 primary must file between Dec. 3 and Jan. 2.

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Elizabeth Pierson Hernandez covers the state capital for Valley Freedom Newspapers. She is based in Austin and can be reached at (512) 323-0622.