Posted on 04/14/2004 10:06:29 AM PDT by SwinneySwitch
AUSTIN — The 2004 primary season may become known as the Democratic Party purge in the state House.
Democrats on Tuesday rejected two more House incumbents, capping a primary season in which party loyalists showed their displeasure with members who cozied up to the state Republicans who hold majority power in the Legislature.
Democrats ousted seven-term Rep. Roberto Gutierrez of McAllen and first-termer Gabi Canales of Alice in the primary runoff, sending both to resounding defeats. Neither managed to win even 30 percent of the vote in their races.
"These two did not represent their districts well," Democratic Party Chairman Charles Soechting said. "They ran as Democrats but never voted like Democrats."
Democrats have rejected a total of seven party incumbents from the House in the March primary and Tuesday's runoff.
Gutierrez had been targeted for ouster in District 41 by the Democratic party because of his alignment with Republicans on some key votes last year, including support for GOP-backed legislation to limit lawsuit liability awards for pain and suffering.
He was defeated by civil litigation lawyer Veronica Gonzales of McAllen.
Gutierrez faced personal problems as well as political. Shortly after the March 9 primary, he announced that he was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome, an immune disorder which attacks part of the peripheral nervous system and causes weakness or paralysis. He did not actively campaign against Gonzales in the runoff.
In District 35, Canales was defeated by attorney Yvonne Gonzalez Toureilles of Alice.
Canales, a defense lawyer, had faced negative publicity for using her legislative position to obtain delays of clients' trials during the 2003 legislation sessions.
She also comes from a family that had endured harsh publicity in recent months. Her father, a former state district judge, was removed from the bench last year after allegations of sexual harassment. The state Supreme Court rejected his appeal last week.
Gabi Canales could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday night. Gutierrez's office did not return several phone messages left in the days leading up to the runoff.
In two other Democratic runoffs, attorney Abel Herrero defeated businesswomen Nelda Martinez in Corpus Christi's District 34 and Bexar County attorney David Leibowitz defeated county employee Ken Mireles in San Antonio's District 117. Herrero and Martinez advanced to the runoff after defeating incumbent Jaime Capelo in March.
In Republican runoffs, rancher Jean Killgore of Somerville defeated engineer Jay Yates of Bastrop in District 17, and real estate broker Rob Orr of Burleson defeated Cleburne investor Sam Walls.
Walls, 64, refused to withdraw from the District 58 race after photos of him in women's clothing began circulating. Walls said he would not give in to "blackmail" from opponents. Orr won with 60 percent of the vote.
After his loss, Walls read a statement at the Johnson County GOP headquarters, where he arrived with about 50 supporters.
"Some people have said they feel sorry for me, but let me tell you how wonderful it has been for me. If you have not had the opportunity to find out that all your friends are true friends then I feel sorry for you," he said.
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April 13, 2004 - 11:55 p.m. CDT
Democrats have rejected a total of seven party incumbents from the House in the March primary and Tuesday's runoff.
Gee, the Commies seem to have mellowed a bit. Once upon a time, didn't they defenestrate their fallen-out-of-favor comrades when they had a purge? Maybe they couldn't find a handy open window...
Be hard to do that if they'd previously voted in the GOP primary - it'd be against the law.
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