Three Democrats and two Republicans vie for seat(Texas House 35)

As state Rep. Gabi Canales, D-Alice, defends her seat in the Texas Legislature from two Democratic candidates, two Republican candidates ask residents to vote according to their conservative values, over party lines.

District 35 includes Atascosa, Bee, Goliad, Jim Wells, Karnes, Live Oak and McMullen counties. The position pays $7,200 a year. The primary election is March 9. The runoff election is scheduled for April 13.

Candidates for the district seat said rural health care, education, infrastructure and water rights are key issues, and that state tax dollars need to return to the district as well as the state.

Canales reported that she had raised $3,636.98 from last July 16 to the first reporting period deadline of Jan. 15.

In her second reporting period, Jan. 16-to-Feb. 8, she reported raising $2,000. She reported she had spent a total of $9,332.40 on her campaign.

Canales singly authored eight bills in the regular session, three at the committee level. She sits on committees for Border and International Affairs, Energy and Child Welfare and Foster Care.

Canales said issues for the district in the next legislative session include water and property rights as well as border issues and rural health care.

"I have the experience, and I know the formalities and the politics," Canales said.

Canales was criticized by an Austin political watchdog group for filing legislative continuances. Canales also came under fire after being arrested in July on a DWI charge outside of Alice. A special prosecutor from Colorado County decided not to pursue that charge, but an open-container charge is still pending. Legislative continuances occur when a legislator who works as an attorney applies for a delay in a legal case because of legislative duties.

Democratic candidate Yvonne Gonzalez Toureilles leads the competition in contributions and expenditures. She raised $39,440 in political contributions during the January campaign finance reporting period, and $26,050 in the February reporting period. By Jan. 15 she had spent $31,770 and from Jan. 16 to Feb. 8 she had spent $8,949, according to campaign finance reports.

Gonzalez Toureilles, an attorney who has worked in Alice since 2001, gained the financial backing of several large law firms and plaintiff's lawyers. Top contributors include Fleming & Associates, L.L.P., a Houston law firm, and Duval County attorney Baldemar F. Gutierrez.

Gonzalez Toureilles is a former Texas assistant attorney general who served from mid- 1997 to 1999. Prior to that she had worked with the Texas Legislature in 1997 researching law and state policy.

Gonzalez Toureilles, who is married and the mother of a 2-year-old daughter, said she would fight for education, health care and economic development in order to enhance the lives of all Texas children.

"Being a mother has changed me for the better," she said. "It really brings home that children are our future and we need to invest in our children to make the world a better place."

David Flores, a 43-year-old health care consultant, raised $5,025 during the first reporting period and $7,925 during the second reporting period. He has spent about $4,811 on his campaign.

Flores is working on a campaign strategy that he calls "try before you buy." Last year, Flores worked as a free consultant with officials in Bee, McMullen and Live Oak counties to negotiate a $10 million plan with Texas Department of Transportation to expand U.S. 59. He says this gave officials in those counties experience in working with him. He has worked with county officials to support candidates for state commissions and review boards.

Flores also worked as a volunteer consultant with the 76th and 77th Texas Legislatures to draft amendments to education, health and safety codes that allowed Medicare reforms and helped alternative education programs provide drug abuse counseling to students.

"I have noticed that most people in rural areas have been treated like second-class citizens and, to an extent, they have accepted that," Flores said. "We are just as worthy of the services and quality of services as the metropolitan areas. They have a quantity of life, but we have a quality of life."

Republican candidates Eric Opiela and Michael Esparza are vying for the seat as well.

Opiela, a Karnes County attorney, is making his second bid for the seat. Opiela said district leadership must focus on water rights as larger cities look towards rural water sources to meet their demands.

"Voters are conservative, whether they are Democrats or Republicans," he said. "I would make sure that legislation is passed that allows tax dollars to come back to the district and improve our roads, schools and counties."

Opiela has raised $4,185 in contributions during the first reporting period and $4,066 in contributions during the second reporting period. He has spent $5,034 on his campaign.

He said he has worked with the Texas legislative Committee for Urban Affairs and helped expand special homebuyers incentives to peace officers.

Esparza, who was endorsed by Clark Welder, Bee County Republican leader and Canales' opponent in the last election, has raised $10,100 and has spent $2,109 on his campaign.

Esparza, in his first term as an Alice city councilman, said he also believes District 35 voters are conservative and that the region must focus on economic development and conservative spending.

"A lot of the time, I think rural South Texas is forgotten," Esparza said. "We need strong representation to express our needs. I can take our voice to Austin and be heard."

This is annoying, and strikes me as a conflict of interest. A large number of Texas Legislature campaigns are run out of somebody's law office (don't know if this one is), but I am concerned that these law firms just want someone in Austin to run interference for their corporate clients when it comes to legislation. It's wrong.

Thats what you get when you pay for legislators $7,200 a year. The only people that can run are ones that are weathly or in jobs where they can make a lot of money in a short period and have jobs that they can leave for 6 months every two years. That is why lawyers make up a lot of the legislature. It is impossible for the regular person to be able to run for a seat. I know of one legislator that lost over $75,000 last session because he was in Austin, not as his law firm. Not many people can do that and still survive.

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