Laredo Democrats Seeking Candidates to Oppose Rep. Henry Bonilla

According to a late March posting in the National Journal's House Race Hotline, top Democrats are looking for potential candidates to field against Republican Congressman Henry Bonilla.

The Hotline, a Washington insider information source, states that Texas and D.C. Demos looking to "nix" a potential rematch between Bonilla and Laredoan Henry Cuellar for Congressional Dist. 23.

Cuellar, a former Texas Secretary of State and state representative, ran a close but unsuccessful bid against Bonilla in November, garnering just under 48 percent of the vote.

The Hotline blurb cites an anonymous Texas Democrat "operative" who said that with millionaire Tony Sanchez at the top of the Texas ticket in 2002, "all the pieces were in place" but Cuellar "was a fundamentally and fatally flawed candidate" and Democrats "are not going to waste money on him again."

Those cited as potential candidates against Bonilla include Laredo Mayor Betty Flores and state representatives Richard Raymond (Laredo) and Pete Gallego (Alpine).

Harold Cook, an Austin-based Democratic consultant whose clients include the Senate Democratic Caucus in the Texas Legislature, agreed with the Hotline blurb.

"The results of the last election showed the weakness of a Cuellar candidacy. We have a situation where the top of the ticket was Cuellar's hometown-where virtually all the statewide Democratic candidates, who were losing elsewhere, won that congressional district handily," Cook said.

He pointed to results from the Texas Legislative Council, which show that although top Democratic nominees lost statewide in November, nearly all won Congressional District 23.

Ron Kirk (U.S. senator) finished with 53.2 percent of the vote in CD 23; Tony Sanchez (Texas governor) with 54.3 percent; John Sharp (lieutenant governor) with 57.2 percent; and Kirk Watson (attorney general) with 52.5 percent.

"And still Cuellar couldn't carry that congressional district," Cook said. "So, if Demos are going to target that district, I would imagine it would be a candidate other than Cuellar."

Cuellar, however, said that Cook and Washington Demos are overlooking several key factors.

"I raised about $1 million, and Bonilla spent $2.4 million, plus he got help from third party expenditures like the Medicare ads. So, when you look at all that, we still got extremely close," Cuellar said.

Cuellar is the first Democratic opponent to finish neck-and-neck with Bonilla, who has held the congressional seat since 1992.

The Cuellar-Bonilla race was one of three Congressional races in Texas "targeted" by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, known as the DCCC (pronounced "D triple C").

Targeted races are those in which the DCCC will inject critical amounts of financial and human resources to achieve victory in those races. However, Demos only captured one of the three targeted Texas races in November.

Cuellar notes that despite promises of campaign funds, "the DCCC did not come up with the money. It was not until the end that we got an infusion. It was the Sunday before the (Tuesday) election when they saw how close we were, but by that point it was too late," Cuellar said.

This, he said, prevented his campaign from carrying expensive television ads on air in San Antonio, Bonilla's base.

"Despite that, we did extremely well, so I find it kind of suspect that this Austin operative is saying this. It looks like he has some kind of agenda," Cuellar retorted.

Cook stressed that he was not the operative cited in the Hotline blurb and adds that his remarks are his own opinion.

"The only political agenda I have is getting winnable Democrats elected. Cuellar had no plan. He went through three to four campaign staffs and three different campaign managers," Cook said.

"The money he did get, he chose not to spend on TV (political ads). Instead, he decided to pay for field operations that were already being paid for by other candidates. Tony Sanchez was paying for the largest field operation ever, and yet, Cuellar chose to pay for a separate field operation," Cook added.

"That's baloney. We needed to put money into a grass roots field operation without a doubt," Cuellar said, indicating that he had to build his name recognition outside of Laredo.

"Apparently, these guys do not know what it takes to win this race," Cuellar said.

"We kept asking the (Democratic) state party that we needed more dollars spent on field work, but they had written off a lot of areas like northwest Bexar County where we needed help," Cuellar added.

Cook said that a grassroots effort in CD 23 was not a bad idea, "but the fact is, if Henry Cuellar had done nothing, the biggest grassroots effort in 23 was still ongoing, thanks to Tony Sanchez' efforts. The only difference between statewide Democratic candidates who won that congressional district and Henry Cuellar, is that they all had a message.

"Henry Cuellar put too much money into his own grassroots campaign, and in so doing, couldn't afford TV and other things like direct target mailings," Cook stated.

"I got a phone call from Nancy Pelosi when she became Minority Leader (in the U.S. House of Representatives). She said that if I run again, she would want to sit down with me," Cuellar said.

As for Mayor Betty Flores and state representatives Raymond and Gallego, all three said they were currently focusing on their elected positions, not the upcoming congressional race in November 2004.

Raymond and Gallego said they are open to considering a congressional run in the future.

(Staff writer Tricia Cortez can be reached at 728-2568 or tricia@lmtonline.com.)

Many of the statewide Democrat nominees in 2002 won in District 23, but not congressional candidate Henry Cuellar. Therefore, the Democrat leaders are trying to convince another candidate to enter the field against Henry Bonilla. Bonilla would still be favored in 2004, regardless of the nominee, as I see the situation.

Bonilla would still be favored in 2004, regardless of the nominee, as I see the situation.

Which is why Bonilla should not be placed in a safer district. Potential constituents who would bolster Bonilla's position would be better deployed in other congressional districts where Republicans could knock off incumbent DemocRATS.

As a Laredo native, I think this article has Tony Sanchez's fingerprints all over it. Sanchez and Cuellar do not like each other for a multitude of reasons. Sanchez spent more cash in the governor's race and lost by more votes than Cuellar did. Bonilla needed the votes from Bexar County because without them, the GOP would lose the seat.

I laugh out loud at the chance of Betty Flores running. She would get blown out of the water no matter how much money the DCCC plunges in there.

Why do you think Democrat Betty Flores (maiden name: Garcia) would be a weak congressional candidate? People in Laredo are convinced that she is "on their side." She was reelected by, I believe, over 75 percent of the vote in 2002.

Bonilla needed the votes from Bexar County because without them, the GOP would lose the seat.

That may be true, but he does not need to be put in a much safer district. We need to maximize Rebublicans represented in the Texas Congressional delegation, not make all the current incumbents safe.

That's a local election against a target-deficient environment.

Flores would need big-time money coupled with a legit grass-roots effort. 75 percent in Laredo means nothing outside the city. Apparently there's little carryover.

I think Cuellar is the best the Dems can manage in the 23rd. He had some wider consituency when he was a state rep. than Flores does now. That could change if Flores is building a war chest right now to aim for the nomination.

You spent a million dollars as a challenger and you're still whining? You suck, please run again!

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