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1st day sets voting records BY NANCY MARTINEZ Times staff writer One ballot at a time, hundreds of thousands of voters in Texas rewrote history Monday, casting more votes on the first day of an early voting period than ever before, state and local officials confirmed Tuesday. Laredo's 1,577 voters Monday, described by officials as moderate when weighed against the 97,076 people registered to vote in Webb County, didn't break any records, but local officials say they're optimistic about the overall turnout. Tuesday, elections offices across the state were buzzing with calls from people seeking information on voting sites. For...

Ciro wins one Rodriguez's re-election hopes alive; Cuellar to fight ruling BY TRICIA CORTEZ Times staff writer Wednesday afternoon, attorneys in the drawn-out electoral battle between Henry Cuellar and Ciro Rodriguez received the long-awaited phone call from the 4th Court of Appeals. In a 2-1 vote, the three-judge panel reversed the ruling of the lower court, stating the visiting trial judge erred when he did not allow Rodriguez to introduce evidence of alleged voting irregularities. The case has been remanded back to Laredo for trial although no date has been set. Just last week, Cuellar expressed confidence the court would...

New citizens group seeks tax rollback BY TRICIA CORTEZ Times staff writer Close to 100 angry taxpayers created a new organization Tuesday to launch a "multiple front strategy" to protest the increase in appraised values set on commercial and residential properties this year. The goal of Citizens United Toward Fair Assessments & Taxes, or CUT FAT, is to get elected officials at the city, county and school district levels to lower their respective tax rates during budget hearings this summer. This would offset the "over 100 percent increase in appraised values that some of us experienced this year," event organizer...

Ballot recount begins in District 28 race BY LAUREL ALMADA Times staff writer The results of the U.S. Congressional District 28 recount are expected to be in later today, after the court appointed committee counting the ballots completes the process. The second recount began Thursday morning at the Webb County Justice Center's central jury room. "It's been going well," Henry Cuellar spokesman T.J. Connolly said Thursday evening. "The people in charge did a commendable job of organizing." U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez spokesperson John Puder shared a different opinion. "It's gone very slow," he said, adding that he believes the process...

Recount lawsuit ruling to be made in Laredo BY MATT JOYCE Associated Press Writer AUSTIN - Attorneys for Henry Cuellar Thursday accused U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez of improperly "trolling" for ineligible voters in his effort to overturn election results after a recount of the District 28 Democratic primary. Cuellar's team made the arguments at a hearing as they began studying a list of about 260 Webb County voters that Rodriguez's camp identified as possibly illegal. Steve Bickerstaff, a Cuellar attorney, urged District Judge Joseph Hart of Austin to dismiss Rodriguez's lawsuit partly because Rodriguez failed to specify his complaints when...

Fraud allegations disputed BY TRICIA CORTEZ Times staff writer Webb County Commissioner Judith Gutierrez blasted the Ciro Rodriguez camp and the San Antonio Express-News Wednesday for their "continued allegations and inferences" that electoral fraud occurred in Webb and Zapata counties. She was referring to the recount of ballots in the hotly contested race for Congressional District 28 involving Laredoan Henry Cuellar and incumbent Rodriguez of San Antonio. "Enough is enough. If you have any evidence of fraud, prove it," Gutierrez said, referring to "one-sided news reports" and a particularly biting Thursday piece by Express-News columnist Ken Rodriguez. "It is an...

Election count facing scrutiny by state party Cuellar takes 203-vote lead BY TRICIA CORTEZ Times staff writer Roberto Balli, Webb County Democratic Party chairperson, filed an affidavit Thursday asking for a recount of the recount in Webb County, because of electoral irregularities and possible fraud in the congressional race between Ciro Rodriguez and Henry Cuellar. Balli sent the notarized affidavit to Charles Soechting, chairperson of the Texas Democratic Party in Austin. Soechting is expected to make a decision Friday morning. Meanwhile, Cuellar claimed victory Thursday over Rodriguez by 203 votes, after all 11 counties completed their recount of ballots cast...

Cuellar takes lead District 28 recount gets complicated BY TRICIA CORTEZ Times staff writer Only in South Texas: the curse of Duval County's infamous Ballot Box 13 episode, which elected Lyndon B. Johnson to the U.S. Senate in 1948, has come to roost in Webb and Zapata counties. That's how political observers are viewing the startling development in the recount of Democratic primary ballots cast in Webb County and Zapata County in the hotly contested congressional race between Ciro Rodriguez of San Antonio and challenger Henry Cuellar of Laredo. During a recount of ballots Tuesday morning, Zapata County election officials...

Recount ongoing in congressional race Times staff reports Congressman Ciro Rodriguez (D-San Antonio) gained three more votes Friday in the recount of ballots ordered by opponent Henry Cuellar of Laredo. After a recount of votes cast in two of the 11 counties that comprise Congressional District 28, Rodriguez picked up one vote in Wilson County and two in Atascosa Friday, increasing his margin of victory to 148 votes, according to the Austin-based Quorum Report. “Most eyes are focused on the recount in Bexar County. Both candidates and the local Democratic Party have agreed not to recount votes recorded on the...

Senator Zaffirini shrugs off political opponent’s claims By Tricia Cortez Times staff writer Raymond Bruni has accused his opponent, state Sen. Judith Zaffirini (D-Laredo), of being “controlled by special interest groups” and of “abandoning the middle class and working families.” He pointed to campaign contribution reports filed with the Texas Ethics Commission, which show Zaffirini has raised $249,680 from July through the end of February, in which approximately one-third has come from PAC, or political action committee, money. Bruni has also questioned the communications workshops she has given to public entities in Laredo, in which her firm, Zaffirini Communications, has...

Cuellar files for office Times staff reports Former state representative Henry Cuellar announced his filing for candidacy for the new 28th Congressional District, Monday. In a press release issued by his campaign headquarters, Cuellar announced his decision to run for the Democratic nomination in the March 9 primaries. He filed with state Democratic Party headquarters in Austin Sunday afternoon. The newly created congressional district is made up of Atascosa, Frio, Guadalupe, La Salle, McMullen, Wilson, Zapata and part of Bexar, Comal and Webb counties. "As a state representative for 14 years, I fought to bring improved funding for education, healthcare...

State denies redistricting map drawn to harm minority blocs AUSTIN (AP) — Attorneys for the state defended a congressional district map in a federal courtroom Thursday, attempting to disprove plaintiffs' arguments that the new lines were drawn with racially discriminatory intent, violating the Voting Rights Act. Attorney Andy Taylor questioned a map drawer about the intent with which each of the 32 districts was created by the Texas Legislature. "I'm not aware of splits made to break up minority blocks," said Bill Davis, a former Republican state legislator and lobbyist who testified as the state began its case in the...

Commissioners to consider joining redistricting lawsuit BY TRICIA CORTEZ Times staff writer Webb County will join the consolidated lawsuit filed against Gov. Rick Perry and the state of Texas over the Republican-drawn congressional redistricting map passed by the Texas Legislature in October. The Webb County Commissioners Court will hold a special called meeting Monday to hire the San Antonio law firm of Rolando Rios to represent the county. Commissioner Judith Gutierrez made the request last week. The trial begins Dec. 11 and will be held in federal court in Austin before a three-judge panel. Other plaintiffs in the lawsuit styled...

Raymond join lawsuit to stop redistricting Times staff reports State Rep. Richard Raymond (D-Laredo) has added his name as a plaintiff to the consolidated lawsuit filed by various groups representing minorities against the state's proposed congressional redistricting plan. He will appear before U.S. Department of Justice officials in Washington on Nov. 24 to present his reasons for opposing the Republican-drawn plan, which was passed by the Texas Legislature in October. "I've said all along I would continue to fight this gross injustice, even if it means we have to take it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court," Raymond...

Ciro surprised, disappointed by Cuellar's bid for Congress BY TRICIA CORTEZ Times staff writer If the federal courts and U.S. Department of Justice approve the new Texas redistricting map, half of Laredo will fall under the congressional district represented by Ciro Rodriguez (D-San Antonio). Rodriguez, a six-year member of Congress and chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, spoke with the Laredo Morning Times this past week about his current and future legislative priorities. He also spoke about the current political mood in Washington and what he described as the difficulties of working with the Republican administration and Republican-held Congress on...

Bonilla to lose portion of Webb Times Staff Reports WASHINGTON D.C.- The redistricting battle is likely over and Congressman Henry Bonilla's 23rd district is seeing some changes. "I've become very attached to the people of the 23rd district. We work well together and have supported one an other for the past eleven years," said Bonilla. "I fought hard to keep all my constituents, but when it came down to drawing the final lines, the state legislators made a few changes." Unfortunately, the new redistricting map forces Bonilla to lose both Reagan and Upton counties. He will also lose portions of...

Raymond lashes out on final plan Times Staff Reports AUSTIN - State Rep. Richard Raymond (D-Laredo) delivered scathing comments over the latest congressional redistricting map produced by the Republican leadership in Texas early Thursday morning. "Make no mistake. This final plan was cobbled together with backroom deals and brute pressure from Washington power brokers," Raymond said. "The architects of this plan will be remembered for their willingness to ignore Texas Senate tradition, for violating Texas House rules of procedure, as well as their complete disregard for historic communities of interest and for consigning the interest of Hispanics and other minorities...

Committee passes redistricting bill BY NATALIE GOTT Associated Press Writer AUSTIN - A Senate committee on Wednesday adopted a map of new congressional districts that likely would give the Texas GOP an advantage over the state's Democrats in Washington, but the plan seemed doomed this special legislative session. The Senate Jurisprudence Committee approved the measure 4-3 on a party line vote. Sen. Todd Staples of Palestine, who chairs the Senate Republican Caucus, sponsored the map, which he unveiled Wednesday. He said it was fair and balanced. "Clearly I think the map that I laid before you today respects rural, east,...

Police arrest former Webb commissioner, deputy BY TRICIA CORTEZ Times staff writer Acting on a tip, the Laredo Police Department's Narcotics Task Force reportedly seized nearly 300 pounds of marijuana Monday evening at the home of a former Webb County Commissioner on Ceniso Loop in south Laredo. Officers arrested Maria Rosa "Rosie" Centeno, 52, and her 56-year-old husband, Ramiro Hinojosa, who was identified as an ex-county deputy by police officials. "At around 6:30 p.m., task force officers obtained consent from Centeno to a search. In a room in her house, used for storage, they found two boxes with marijuana," Police...