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Raymond eyes tough race By TRICIA CORTEZ LAREDO MORNING TIMES The March Democratic primary is eight months away, an eternity in politics, but the race for one of Laredo's two congressional seats promises to be as furious as an Alabama tick in summer. This week, state Rep. Richard Raymond, D-Laredo, made clear his intentions to challenge incumbent Congressman Henry Cuellar of Laredo. However, Raymond said Friday he would make no formal announcement until the special session on school finance in Austin is over. Over the years, both legislators have done little to hide their dislike and lack of support for...

Three associations endorse Henry Cuellar Times Staff Reports Laredo attorney Henry Cuellar, Democratic candidate for U.S. Congressional District 28, has been endorsed by several organizations in recent weeks. The Texas Farm Bureau, Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas and the National Rifle Association have announced their support for the former Texas secretary of state and former state representative. "The farmers and ranchers of District 28 Congressional District stand behind Mr. Cuellar in his bid for the District 28 seat," said Kenneth Dierschke, president of the Texas Farm Bureau's Friends of Agriculture Fund Inc. Dierschke praised Cuellar for his "excellent leadership...

Stenholm sees hope for area VA hospital BY CORY CHANDLER AVALANCHE-JOURNAL U.S. Rep. Charlie Stenholm does not plan to attend to night's Lubbock town hall meeting hosted by Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony Principi, but the Abilene Democrat said Principi's visit could aid the plight of Big Spring's VA hospital, currently faced with the budgetary ax. "I welcome the secretary out here," Sten holm said. "I think he will get an earful from the veterans, and that's what he's here for." Stenholm had just gotten a helping of the same from area veterans. The current District 17 representative — who...

Ciro gives up the fight to keep seat BY T.A. BADGER Associated Press Writer SAN ANTONIO - After several ballot recounts and legal appeals, U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez has conceded defeat in his fight alleging vote fraud in March's District 28 Democratic primary. Laredo lawyer Henry Cuellar ends up beating Rodriguez by 58 votes out of nearly 50,000 cast in a contest marked by barrages of bitter accusations flying in both directions. Rodriguez threw in the towel late Wednesday after the Texas Supreme Court again rejected his request that it hear his appeal from a lower court. Just as it...

Cuellar asks appeals court for new hearing Associated Press SAN ANTONIO (AP) - Congressional candidate Henry Cuellar on Monday asked a state appeals court for another hearing so he can try to reverse a ruling in the voter fraud lawsuit brought by U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez. Last week, a three-judge panel of the San Antonio-based 4th Court of Appeals overturned a lower-court judge who had ruled that Rodriguez could not challenge the eligibility of hundreds of District 28 voters in the March 9 Democratic primary because the issue was not raised before a legal deadline. Rodriguez led Cuellar by 145...

Ballot recount begins in District 28 race BY LAUREL ALMADA Times staff writer The results of the U.S. Congressional District 28 recount are expected to be in later today, after the court appointed committee counting the ballots completes the process. The second recount began Thursday morning at the Webb County Justice Center's central jury room. "It's been going well," Henry Cuellar spokesman T.J. Connolly said Thursday evening. "The people in charge did a commendable job of organizing." U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez spokesperson John Puder shared a different opinion. "It's gone very slow," he said, adding that he believes the process...

Recount lawsuit ruling to be made in Laredo BY MATT JOYCE Associated Press Writer AUSTIN - Attorneys for Henry Cuellar Thursday accused U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez of improperly "trolling" for ineligible voters in his effort to overturn election results after a recount of the District 28 Democratic primary. Cuellar's team made the arguments at a hearing as they began studying a list of about 260 Webb County voters that Rodriguez's camp identified as possibly illegal. Steve Bickerstaff, a Cuellar attorney, urged District Judge Joseph Hart of Austin to dismiss Rodriguez's lawsuit partly because Rodriguez failed to specify his complaints when...

Retired judge gets recount lawsuit BY T.A. BADGER Associated Press Writer SAN ANTONIO - A retired state judge was chosen Thursday to preside over U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez's lawsuit alleging vote fraud in two South Texas counties after a recount showed he lost the Democratic primary election to Henry Cuellar. Joseph H. Hart, a senior litigator in the high-powered Austin firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, was assigned the case by state Judge David Peeples of San Antonio, presiding judge in the Fourth Judicial Administrative Region. "I picked the person that I thought was the best person for the...

Fraud allegations disputed BY TRICIA CORTEZ Times staff writer Webb County Commissioner Judith Gutierrez blasted the Ciro Rodriguez camp and the San Antonio Express-News Wednesday for their "continued allegations and inferences" that electoral fraud occurred in Webb and Zapata counties. She was referring to the recount of ballots in the hotly contested race for Congressional District 28 involving Laredoan Henry Cuellar and incumbent Rodriguez of San Antonio. "Enough is enough. If you have any evidence of fraud, prove it," Gutierrez said, referring to "one-sided news reports" and a particularly biting Thursday piece by Express-News columnist Ken Rodriguez. "It is an...

Election count facing scrutiny by state party Cuellar takes 203-vote lead BY TRICIA CORTEZ Times staff writer Roberto Balli, Webb County Democratic Party chairperson, filed an affidavit Thursday asking for a recount of the recount in Webb County, because of electoral irregularities and possible fraud in the congressional race between Ciro Rodriguez and Henry Cuellar. Balli sent the notarized affidavit to Charles Soechting, chairperson of the Texas Democratic Party in Austin. Soechting is expected to make a decision Friday morning. Meanwhile, Cuellar claimed victory Thursday over Rodriguez by 203 votes, after all 11 counties completed their recount of ballots cast...

Cuellar takes lead District 28 recount gets complicated BY TRICIA CORTEZ Times staff writer Only in South Texas: the curse of Duval County's infamous Ballot Box 13 episode, which elected Lyndon B. Johnson to the U.S. Senate in 1948, has come to roost in Webb and Zapata counties. That's how political observers are viewing the startling development in the recount of Democratic primary ballots cast in Webb County and Zapata County in the hotly contested congressional race between Ciro Rodriguez of San Antonio and challenger Henry Cuellar of Laredo. During a recount of ballots Tuesday morning, Zapata County election officials...

Recount ongoing in congressional race Times staff reports Congressman Ciro Rodriguez (D-San Antonio) gained three more votes Friday in the recount of ballots ordered by opponent Henry Cuellar of Laredo. After a recount of votes cast in two of the 11 counties that comprise Congressional District 28, Rodriguez picked up one vote in Wilson County and two in Atascosa Friday, increasing his margin of victory to 148 votes, according to the Austin-based Quorum Report. “Most eyes are focused on the recount in Bexar County. Both candidates and the local Democratic Party have agreed not to recount votes recorded on the...

Ciro claims narrow win BY TRICIA CORTEZ Times staff writer By an amazing 126-vote margin out of 48,542 total votes cast, Laredoan Henry Cuellar lost his second bid for U.S. Congress to incumbent Ciro Rodriguez (D-San Antonio) in the March 9 primary. Cuellar was running in the Democratic primary against Rodriguez for the 11-county Congressional District 28 seat. "We expected it to be a tight race, but not this tight," Cuellar said early Wednesday afternoon. "This should be a wake-up call to voters who say their vote doesn't count. Yes it does." Cuellar received 24,208 votes, or 49.87 percent of...

Laredoan Canseco in Congressional run-off BY TRICIA CORTEZ Times staff writer "Laredo has a second bite at the apple," Francisco "Quico" Canseco said Wednesday, referring to the possibility of electing a Laredoan to U.S. Congress. To win the Republican primary run-off election for Congressional District 28, scheduled for April 13, Canseco said he needs the help of all Democrat and Republican voters who did not cast a ballot during the March 9 primary. According to state law, any person who did not vote in the Democratic primary - either because they voted in the Republican primary or they didn't vote...