Republicans eye seats in Congress, Texas Legislature

The Rio Grande Valley’s field for the March primaries is set, and with little competition for many seats in Congress and in the state Legislature, many local candidates will have an easy path until November.

The Valley’s Washington, D.C., delegates, Democratic Reps. Henry Cuellar of Laredo and Rubén Hinojosa of Mercedes, will avoid a challenge in the March primaries, but both are set to face competition in the November general election from the opposing party candidates.

Meanwhile, three of the region’s six state legislators are unopposed and two other seats will be decided in March. State Rep. Veronica Gonzales, D-McAllen, is the only local Democrat with Republican opposition.

“It will be an easy win for us across the board,” predicted Juan Maldonado, chairman of the Hidalgo County Democratic Party.

But the local GOP is also optimistic. Just as in the past five elections years, Hidalgo County Republican Party Chairman Hollis Rutledge continues to believe 2008 is the year his party’s candidates will unseat one or more Democrats here.

“There’s been significant shifts over the years,” Rutledge said. “We have a shift of a lot of independent voters that lean more towards Republicans.”

State Legislature

Only three of the Upper Valley’s six state legislative seats are being contested. Incumbents Rep. Ryan Guillen, D-Rio Grande City, Rep. Mando Martinez, D-Weslaco, and Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen, won’t face challengers.

Two of the other seats will be decided in the March primary.

In western Hidalgo County, the simmering rivalry between Rep. Kino Flores, D-Palmview, and La Joya Mayor Billy Leo has produced a Democratic primary challenger for Flores.

Sandra Rodriguez, a Valley View school district administrator and former Pharr-San Juan-Alamo school board trustee, has teamed up with Leo loyalists in an effort to highlight what she says are her five-term opponent's political dealings within the county as well as his lackluster reputation in Austin.

Flores, however, has built a strong network in his legislative district, which stretches from Alamo to Peñitas and includes parts of McAllen, Pharr and Mission. An ally of Republican House Speaker Tom Craddick, Flores’ legislative priorities have specifically aimed at problems within the district, including the disarray within the La Joya Water Supply Corp.

Annie’s List, an Austin-based political action committee that funnels money and advice to progressive female candidates, has endorsed Rodriguez and thus far has added $60,000 to her coffers through statewide fundraising. The organization, which backed Gonzales in 2004, does not back long-shot candidates, said Robert Jones, the PAC’s political director.

State Rep. Aaron Peña, D-Edinburg, will face off against Eddie Saenz, an Edinburg engineer. Saenz, who is facing driving while intoxicated charges in Edinburg for an incident in September, accuses Peña of supporting Craddick, the Legislature’s highest-ranking Republican.

In Texas’ 41st District, Republicans have their hopes on McAllen lawyer Javier Villalobos to take on Gonzales, a two-term Democratic incumbent. The two aren’t set to meet at the polls until November. Rutledge said Villalobos — who has declined to talk about his platform until after the March primaries — already has garnered support from Valley voters.

Congressional opposition

In congressional contests, the area’s Democratic incumbents have clear advantages in their races. Neither of the two challengers has held elected office and one has already lost twice in the district he is seeking to represent.

Cuellar, who is seeking his third term, faces competition from Jim Fish, a San Antonio-area medical consultant, who resides within the district’s northernmost boundaries.

A Democrat from Laredo, Cuellar inherited Starr County and the western parts of Hidalgo County during court-mandated redistricting in 2006. However, this is the first time he will face competition in the general election in the newly created district, since the 2006 court ruling came too close to the general election for Republicans to find a viable opposition candidate.

Until Thursday, Cuellar had no idea who his competition was, he said. But he still said he was prepared to run “an aggressive campaign” against Fish.

Fish, a 50-year-old retired sailor who lives in Cibolo, is running his campaign on a pro-life, pro-marriage platform as well as on support for border security and the war in Iraq.

Mercedes Democrat Hinojosa, meanwhile, will face Republican Eddie Zamora for the third time, in the November general election.

Hinojosa, who has been in Congress since 1997, says his record of bringing funding to the Valley, as well as the region’s economic growth during the last decade, is enough for Valley voters to send him back to Washington.

With Democrats’ takeover of Congress last November, Hinojosa has gained stature in Washington, being picked to chair the House’s subcommittee on higher education and organizing a trip from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Edinburg in September.

Zamora, a 45-year-old social Republican and a wireless Internet company executive, is running primarily in opposition to Hinojosa’s apparent record in support of abortion and gay marriage. The challenger’s support of the Iraq war and opposition to illegal immigration may be unpopular among some Valley voters, but Zamora says his message does have support.

“It may seem like it might be a tough sell in the Valley,” Zamora said. “But I’ve talked to a lot of people here who resent having to pay for illegals.”

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Monitor staff writer Sara Perkins contributed to this report.

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Kyle Arnold covers business, the economy and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4410.