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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...

The Texas Democratic Party rejected a request today from Webb County party officials to count for a third time disputed ballots from the 28th Congressional District primary race, saying that the result of the clouded election is best decided in a court of law. "There is little doubt that something sketchy is going on in Zapata and Webb counties," said Texas Democratic Party Chairman Charles Soechting. "I feel strongly that there ought to be a recount. That recount should occur under the watchful eye of a judge, and any comments about how extra ballots appeared should be made under oath....

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...

Cuellar files for office Times staff reports Former state representative Henry Cuellar announced his filing for candidacy for the new 28th Congressional District, Monday. In a press release issued by his campaign headquarters, Cuellar announced his decision to run for the Democratic nomination in the March 9 primaries. He filed with state Democratic Party headquarters in Austin Sunday afternoon. The newly created congressional district is made up of Atascosa, Frio, Guadalupe, La Salle, McMullen, Wilson, Zapata and part of Bexar, Comal and Webb counties. "As a state representative for 14 years, I fought to bring improved funding for education, healthcare...

Remap pits Democrat against pal SAN ANTONIO — They were buddies as Texas House freshmen in 1987. But lately, there's bad blood. One wants the other's job. Ciro Rodriguez, 57, of San Antonio went on to Congress in 1997. Henry Cuellar, 48, of Laredo stayed in the House. But he endorsed Republican Gov. George W. Bush for president in 2000. And on Jan. 2, 2001, he became secretary of state, the first appointee of Republican Gov. Rick Perry, another 1980s House buddy when Perry was still a Democrat. Rodriguez, a devout Democrat, remained friends with Cuellar. He welcomed him back...