Free Republic

Ciro gives up the fight to keep seat BY T.A. BADGER Associated Press Writer SAN ANTONIO - After several ballot recounts and legal appeals, U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez has conceded defeat in his fight alleging vote fraud in March's District 28 Democratic primary. Laredo lawyer Henry Cuellar ends up beating Rodriguez by 58 votes out of nearly 50,000 cast in a contest marked by barrages of bitter accusations flying in both directions. Rodriguez threw in the towel late Wednesday after the Texas Supreme Court again rejected his request that it hear his appeal from a lower court. Just as it...

While Democratic foes Ciro Rodriguez and Henry Cuellar are focused on their battle in the 4th Court of Appeals, Republican Jim Hopson is block-walking in a bid to win support from swing voters. Hopson, a Seguin tax lawyer and certified public accountant, will be facing either Cuellar or Rodriguez in the November general election for the 28th Congressional District seat. Cuellar and Rodriguez, who holds the seat today, are locked in a court battle to determine who will be declared the Democratic nominee. Rodriguez was ahead after the initial count of the votes, but Cuellar moved into the lead after...

Retired judge gets recount lawsuit BY T.A. BADGER Associated Press Writer SAN ANTONIO - A retired state judge was chosen Thursday to preside over U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez's lawsuit alleging vote fraud in two South Texas counties after a recount showed he lost the Democratic primary election to Henry Cuellar. Joseph H. Hart, a senior litigator in the high-powered Austin firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, was assigned the case by state Judge David Peeples of San Antonio, presiding judge in the Fourth Judicial Administrative Region. "I picked the person that I thought was the best person for the...