Caquias, Vaden vie for Republican nominee for district 27 (South Texas)

The Brownsville Herald ^ | March 7, 2004 | Laura B. Martinez

[SwinneySwitch]

BROWNSVILLE, March 7, 2004 — Before Brownsville physician Dr. Jesus Antonio Caquias or Ingleside Mayor Willie Vaden can try to unseat U.S. Rep. Solomon Ortiz, they have to contend with one another first.

Caquias and Vaden are running for the Republican nomination for U.S. District 27, which includes much of Cameron County and parts of Nueces, Kleberg and Willacy counties.

The winner of the election on Tuesday will face Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi, on Nov. 2.

Also running for the District 27 seat are Libertarian candidates Christopher J. Claytor of Plano and Frank Jones III of Ingleside.

Vaden, Ingleside’s mayor since 2002, owns VIP Cargo Survey Inc., a marine surveying company in Ingleside.

“I’ve been planning to run for Congress for over a year,” he said.

“I saw that South Texas wasn’t being represented on (Capitol) Hill as far as job creation and bringing industries” to the area.

He said his experience as an international businessman makes him the best candidate. What makes him stand out against other candidates is his stance on homeland security, the necessity of having a strong military and his call to reduce taxes, he said.

Caquias, a Puerto Rico native, moved to Brownsville in 1980. He became director of the Brownsville Community Health Clinic in 1981.

Caquias said he had been thinking about running for the congressional district for three years.

He reached his final decision late last year, after former Brownsville Mayor Pat Ahumada announced that he would not seek the position.

Ahumada ran for the seat in 2002, but lost to Ortiz.

Caquias, a lifelong Republican, said he wants to bring out Republican issues such as pro life and marriage.

There’s an “assault” on values that needs to be addressed, he said.

Caquias said he also wants to do away with the misconception that all Hispanics are Democrats.

“It’s all a big farce. How can you be a Democrat and be Catholic and be with a party that supports abortion and gay marriages?” he said.

As a longtime physician, Caquias said he is aware of the health issues that are facing South Texans. Because of this knowledge, he said he can push health care issues while in Washington, D.C.

“I bring an expertise to the table that no one else can bring,’’ he said.

[SwinneySwitch]

"How can you be a Democrat and be Catholic and be with a party that supports abortion and gay marriages?”

Good question!

[JohnnyZ]

I always knew Jesus was a Republican.

[SwinneySwitch]

¡Sí, este Jesús es!

We need to do away with the misconception that all Hispanics are Catholic too.

[JohnnyZ]

All Hispanics SHOULD be Catholic. EVERYONE should be Catholic.

Of course, I'm Catholic, so I may be a little biased! ;)

[Clintonfatigued]

Correct me if I'm mistaken, but isn't Congressman Ortiz pro-life?

[JohnnyZ]

According to Democrats for Life, Solomon Ortiz IS pro-life.

[SwinneySwitch]

How about catholic with a small c?

[AuH2ORepublican]

"According to Democrats for Life, Solomon Ortiz IS pro-life."

---

And they are correct. Last I checked, Solomon Ortiz actually had an excellent voting record on abortion and other life issues, and he's fairly moderate on other issues(Ruben Hinojosa and Silvestre Reyes are not all that liberal either, but Ortiz is definitely the most conservative of the bunch. Solomon Ortiz is pretty much a Mexican-American Sanford Bishop. If I were Tom DeLay, I'd make him a nice juicy offer to switch to the GOP---he'd win easily as a Republican, since the district voted for Bush in 2000 and since Ortiz is very popular locally. But if he remains a Democrat, I hope Caquias or Vaden can pull off the upset in November.

If Jesus Caquias can put lightning in a bottle and wins the seat, there would be two Puerto Ricans in the Congressional Hispanic Conference for Republicans; the Conference is currently limited to three Cuban-Americans from FL (Ros-Lehtinen and the Diaz-Balart Bros.), one Mexican-American from TX (Bonilla) and one Portuguese-American (not technically a Hispanic) from CA (Devin Nunes). Former Republican National Committeeman Luis Fortuño is heavily favored to be elected Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico in November.