Barrientos won't seek U.S. House seat

State Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos, who previously said he was strongly leaning toward a congressional race, announced today he will not challenge local U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett for the Democratic nomination in a newly created U.S. House district.

Though he is staying out of the race, Barrientos announced his endorsement of state District Judge Leticia Hinojosa of Edinburg in her effort to end Doggett's congressional career.

Hinojosa is the right candidate for the district, which stretches from Austin to the Mexican border, Barrientos said at a Capitol news conference. The Edinburg judge, Barrientos said, "has the knowledge, sensitivity, professional and life experiences to bring this district together and to represent all of its citizens' interests well in Congress."

At a McAllen event today, Hinojosa, who has to resign her judgeship to seek the U.S. House seat, made no mention of Doggett. She talked about her qualifications, including knowledge of Austin gleaned during her years as an undergraduate and in law school at the University of Texas, as well as two years working for legal aid after she earned her law degree in 1981.

"My experiences are not very different than many of yours," she told supporters at her announcement event. "The issue is who has similar experiences to the people of the district."

Barrientos offered no negative words for Doggett. Bad feelings between the two local lawmakers date back to 1993, when Doggett, then a Texas Supreme Court justice, got into and won the race to replace longtime local U.S. Rep. J. J. "Jake" Pickle, who retired. At the time, Barrientos thought he was in line for the seat, but he opted not to run when Doggett got in.

Barrientos today denied that his support of Hinojosa has anything to do with the 1993 election.

"The fact that a qualified candidate has emerged from the most populated southern part of this district made my decision easier," he said.

Two RAT morons running for this seat. Wish there was one strong Republican to file against these two. There are probably too many libs in this district for anyone else to try to get this district into the Republican column.

Rank	Location	Receipts	Donors/Avg		Freepers/Avg		Monthlies
11	North Carolina	587.00	14	41.93	452	1.30	387.00	24

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2 posted on 01/08/2004 12:11:38 PM PST by Support Free Republic (Hi Mom! Hi Dad!)

Arrowhead, do you have alink to the map? I know my new district runs to the Mexican border, but I think there were two in this area that did the same.

3 posted on 01/08/2004 12:16:06 PM PST by WinOne4TheGipper (The Democratic Party: Without an electoral mandate for almost 28 years.)

Try this (Interactive guide)

There are several different maps that are displayed. Or copy and past this into the browser.

http://www.statesman.com/legislature/content/coxnet/texas/legislature/maps/redistrict_recap.html

4 posted on 01/08/2004 12:27:28 PM PST by Arrowhead1952 (Willie Nelson is just another chicken "D". No new ballad, because of the backlash.)

Thanks. That puts me in District 28. At least I won't have Doggett representing me...

5 posted on 01/08/2004 1:01:51 PM PST by WinOne4TheGipper (The Democratic Party: Without an electoral mandate for almost 28 years.)

It would be hard for any Dem to be worse than Doggett, one of the Clinton's shrillest defenders during the impeachment proceedings.

6 posted on 01/08/2004 1:10:22 PM PST by Constitutionalist Conservative (http://c-pol.com)

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