Posted on 08/30/2006 10:15:55 PM PDT by Torie
August 30, 2006 Rodriguez drops out of District 23 race
Greg Jefferson Express-News Staff Writer
Democrat Ciro Rodriguez told a roomful of San Antonio union activists Wednesday night that he was pulling out of the crowded race in Congressional District 23, according to one of the participants.
The former four-term congressman didn't offer an explanation to the AFL-CIO Central Labor Council, which met to consider an endorsement in the race, said the person, who asked not to be identified. Rodriguez couldn't be reached for comment late Wednesday night.
His campaign spokeswoman said she was unaware of his announcement, which came a week after Rodriguez filed to run against 14-year incumbent Henry Bonilla and what turned out to be a bevy of other Democrats in the Nov. 7 open election.
A panel of three federal judges redrew District 23 on Aug. 4, responding to U.S. Supreme Court ruling that Texas Republican leaders' 2003 redistricting violated the federal Voting Rights Act by removing 100,000 Hispanic voters.
The new map pulled in most of southern Bexar County, making the district more competitive for Democrats. And seemingly for Rodriguez, whose base of support resides on the South Side.
He served as congressman for District 28 for four terms, ending in 2004 after losing to Laredoan Henry Cuellar in the Democratic primary. Cuellar, as an incumbent, defeated Rodriguez again in this year's party primary.
The back-to-back losses hurt Rodriguez's standing among some party activists, who say they exposed weaknesses in Rodriguez fundraising and campaigning abilities.
Rodriguez has said he tried to talk other Democrats out of running in the Nov. 7 open election but was only partially successful.
The Democrats who filed besides Rodriguez: Alamo Heights businessman Lukin Gilliland Jr.; Albert Uresti, a retired San Antonio Fire Department district chief and brother of state Rep. Carlos Uresti; El Pasoan Rick Bolaños, who was the party's nominee before the judges' Aug. 4 decision; August “Augie†Beltran of San Antonio; and Adrian DeLeon of Carrizo Springs.
Craig T. Stephens, a San Antonio small business owner, filed to run as an independent.
gjefferson@express-news.net
FYI.
Interesting. I personally thought Uresti would be a stronger candidate than Rodriguez in any event, so I guess we'll see.
Still looking at a Bonilla hold.
Aw, that's a shame. I was looking forward to seeing another "Zero" butt-kicking. ;-)
Maybe he woke up with a horse's head on his bed.
I was always more worried about Gilliland. He's got serious cash.
The rest are also-rans IMO. Bonilla will probably squeak by in a runoff.
This is the general election, no run-off.
It's actually a special open primary election, due to the court ordered redistricting, so there will be a general election December runoff between the top two if no one gets 50%+1 on Election Day.
Must have slipped by me when I was visiting out of state or subsequently in the Hospital. Sounds like you are telling me the two party system is out of the window and it's like one big primary lumping Dem's and Rep's together?
Yep, that's correct. And an independent nonentity will also be on the ballot along with Bonilla and five or six Democrats (I assume Rodriguez won't be on the ballot now, but I'm not 100% sure). If Bonilla can get 50%+1 on Election Day then it's over, but if not then he and the runner-up will square off in December.
Just like '96
If Rodriguez formally withdraws, he's off the ballot totally. Whether that actually happens, we'll see.
Uresti has good name recognition/in that his brother is the favorite to win the State Senate seat this year, but he's never run for political office before and I really don't see how he raises enough cash to do that much. I could be wrong.
The one who's dangerous in the cash angle is Gilliland, who can self-fund if he wants to. He still doesn't have a website up yet, so let's see on that front (Uresti doesn't either). He also comes from Alamo Heights, which is part of Bonilla's base. Maybe he can make some inroads there, but that area of San Antonio is so GOP troglodyte and Bonilla is such red meat to these people, I really don't see how that much is gained.
More importantly, there is no candidate that can go after what I think could be Bonilla's weakness, the border county vote. Moreover, I doubt we see exceptional turnout (or anything close) out of southern Bexar now. The seat drops a good bit in my opinion.
Hmm...I thought the GOP bastion was in Lamar Smith's district. Didn't I hear that Bonilla picked up a lot of voters from Ciro's old district?
I'm curious why he withdrew. I still think it was Bonilla's district to lose and he would have squeaked by anyway. My confidence factor just went up.
You are quite correct. Still, about 35%-40% of the CD is the part of Bexar that Bonilla represented in 2004, and most of that is Anglo GOP/middle-class Hispanics. This is his base; he won it in 2004 by a 70-30 margin against a no-name Anglo, running about 8-10 points ahead of Bush.
The part of southern Bexar (highly Democrat) that was added to the CD comprises about 25% of the voters.
About a third of the district in voters is a swath of rural border counties that comprise the cities of Eagle Pass, Del Rio and Hondo, TX. among others and the rural area of El Paso County. These are areas he has represented since 1992 and has always performed very strong in (esp. in comparison to statewide GOP)
Rodriguez Drops Bid in Texas 23, But Only Briefly
"But the word from the Rodriguez campaign on Thursday was: hold that thought."
"Considering his options." How long is it until election day? Do we have a Hamlet here? Ciro might not have a pair. Is he a lawyer or something? :)
I think Ciro actually might be inquiring whether somebody outside the district might commit to writing him big checks, as an after thought on his part, that if he gets a couple of million, maybe it might be a reasonable shot for him. South San Antonio will not be the source of that cash for him. I really don't see him dropping back in, come to think of it, if that is his game plan.
I guess that was in response to this AP story here (in my hometown paper).
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/4154328.html
Whichever, the longer Ciro stays indecisive, the less relevant he'll be. I'd still bet that he drops out, because he isn't going to get his wish now of eliminating all the other Dem candidates.
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