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January 14, 2005 9:36 AM OPIELA WITHDRAWS ELECTION CHALLENGE! Details to follow And related: January 13, 2005 6:22 PM HINOJOSA SLAMS OPIELA OVER REMARKS ABOUT SOUTH TEXAS ELECTION FRAUD Toureilles files motion to dismiss HD 35 election contest A border senator has sent a stinging letter to a Republican House candidate who is challenging an election defeat, accusing him of "divisive and racially insensitive" remarks. Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa (D-McAllen) told defeated House District 35 candidate Eric Opiela to "drop the racial overtones and negative innuendoes" after reading comments made by Opiela's attorney in a Border Buzz story on Jan....

ALICE — The rich tradition of election hanky-panky is alive and well in South Texas, according to Eric Opiela, who, with his recent loss in a state representative race, counts himself as its latest victim. But to those who oversee elections here, the ghosts of the legendary "Duke of Duval" George Parr and the crooked politics of years past have been exorcised. Opiela, a Republican lawyer from Karnes City, lost the District 35 race on Nov. 2 to Yvonne Gonzalez-Toureilles of Alice by about 835 votes out of more than 45,000 cast. Although he carried five of the district's seven...

SCOTT REESE WILLEY The Progress Karnes County attorney and rancher Eric Opiela said he has presented evidence to a special committee of state lawmakers on Friday showing that more than 1,700 fraudulent ballots were cast in the Nov. 2 general election in Jim Wells and Bee counties. In addition, he added, a precinct by precinct mathematical analysis of the illegal votes show that when the fraudulent ballots are deducted from the vote totals, Opiela won the race for State Rep. District 35 by 110 votes. District 35 includes Atascosa, Bee, Goliad, Jim Wells, Karnes, Live Oak and McMullen counties. “The...

Master of discovery, committee appointed for House election challenges. Speaker of the House Tom Craddick appointed Rep. Will Hartnett, a Republican from Dallas, Monday to act as the “master of discovery” for the three state House elections challenged from the Nov. 2 election, including results of District 35. Hartnett is a Dallas lawyer and chairs the House Judicial Affairs Committee. Also on Monday, Craddick appointed a nine-member committee, including five Republicans and four Democrats, to investigate the contested races. Last week Republican Eric Opiela filed a challenge in the Texas Secretary of State’s office regarding the results of the District...

Republican Candidate for State Representative District 35, Eric Opiela, said Tuesday that the battle for the vacant seat is far from over. In a telephone interview, Opiela said after two recounts Friday, Nov. 19, news reports said the vote count changed very little. However, Opiela alleges about 800 of his opponent’s votes – mail-in ballots – were illegally cast. He said, “That’s about the margin of the difference” between Opiela and Democrat opponent Yvonne Gonzalez Toureilles, who won district wide in November. Opiela said he has filed to have the state House decide the winner, or possibly a new election...

AUSTIN — Two losing Texas House Republican candidates, including House Speaker Tom Craddick's most powerful lieutenant, sought Wednesday to have the GOP-controlled House overturn their races' results or order new elections. Also Wednesday, one-term Rep. Ken Mercer of San Antonio decided against contesting his 498-vote loss to Democratic challenger David Leibowitz in a bitterly contested District 117 race. As expected, Talmadge Heflin of Houston and Eric Opiela of Karnes City filed documents Wednesday with the secretary of state's office formally contesting the results of their races. History is not on their side: In the 10 times since 1942 that such...

AUSTIN — Up to three defeated Republican legislative candidates soon could ask the GOP-majority Texas House to declare them the legitimate victors because they claim the Nov. 2 outcomes likely were tinged by fraud. But an election-law expert who often consults Democratic candidates discounted the likelihood of the contests Monday, which he described as both rare and futile. Austin lawyer Buck Wood predicted no candidate ultimately will attempt a contest. "It's a waste of their time," Wood said. "If you get real lucky, you might get a new election, at which point you get your ass plastered." If the candidates...

AUSTIN — A South Texas official Friday disputed a legislative candidate's suspicions of "hundreds of irregularities" in the Nov. 2 elections, but a state agency separately said it has reason to suspect criminal misconduct in Bee County balloting. The recounts, sought and paid for by Eric Opiela of Karnes City, must start no later than Tuesday in Bee, Karnes and Jim Wells counties, according to the secretary of state's office. Opiela, the Republican nominee for the District 35 House seat, said he suspects "hundreds of irregularities" in Jim Wells County, including people voting despite not being registered. County voters favored...

Quirky voting patterns and super-high voter registration in Jim Wells County. The Republican candidate for Texas House District 35 says he plans to ask for a Recount tomorrow and is also considering an Election Contest after discovering a number of apparent voting irregularities. Karnes City rancher and attorney Eric Opiela was narrowly edged out by Democratic rival Yvonne Gonzalez Toureilles, an attorney from Alice, for the open seat in the general election. Toureilles won 23,138 votes, or 50.94 percent, a lead of 854 votes. Opiela secured 22,284 votes, or 49.06 percent. "We want to make sure that the voice of...

Strong Bush performance and districts reaching north to GOP territory are factors in play. Whisper it softly but Republicans feel they could pull off a shock result in two unlikely South Texas races. Despite being heavily outspent, former Cuero Mayor Michael Thamm says he senses an upset in his Congressional District 15 battle against U.S. Rep. Rubén Hinojosa (D-Mercedes). If Thamm does win, the Rio Grande Valley would be left without a member of Congress who calls the border region home. After redistricting, CD15 reached from the Rio Grande Valley all the way up to the rapidly growing and largely...

Voters in this far-flung and diverse district have two good candidates on the ballot to replace incumbent Gabi Canales. The voters in State Representative District 35, a sprawling area that runs from Jim Wells County to the outskirts of San Antonio, have two attractive candidates to choose from when they go to the polls on Nov. 2. This is good for the district's voters because they desperately need good representation, something that they have done without for two years. The Democratic incumbent, Gabi Canales, lost in the primaries, but her troubles had begun long before this election season. Canales struggled...