Former Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (hat tip to Manny) upset Republican Rep. Henry Bonilla in the last midterm elections in a runoff election - the result of a court-ordered redistricting that reconfigured the normal election process in the district - in Texas’ 23rd District. According to the Texas Secretary of Texas website, with 100% of precincts reporting, Rodriguez won with 54.32% of the vote over Bonilla’s, who was seeking his eighth term in office.

This is another setback to the once control Republican controlled Congress. With this victory, Democrats have now won a total of 30 House seats in the mid-term election and giving them 233-202 advantage in the House. (Side note: Currently a FL election is being challenged because there is strong evidence that election fraud occurred that resulted in a Republican win.)

Ciro win is a tremendous victory not only for him but for Hispanics as well. Faced with many challenges the minute he entered the race, Ciro defied them all and beat a very strong Republican incumbent and who was the favorite to win the runoff because of his huge war chest. Political Money Line shows that Bonilla reported he had $955,000 in cash on hand compared with $91,000 for Rodriguez.

What makes this race interesting, not many people from his own party actually believed that Ciro could pull this victory because of his recent loss to Henry Cuellar. In fact, at one point, Ciro dropped out of the Nov 7 race, some say that the losses hurt Ciro’s creditability among some party activists, who say it exposed Ciro’s weaknesses in “fundraising and his campaigning abilities.”

The back-to-back losses hurt Rodriguez’s standing among some party activists, who say they exposed weaknesses in Rodriguez fundraising and campaigning abilities.

I have discussed Ciro’s loses to Henry Cuellar before. He lost by 58 votes when he lost to Cuellar the first time around, it is kind of hard to see how that is seen as a weakness in his ability to campaign. The second lost also has to do with redistricting, for the party elites contribute Ciro’s loss to his campaigning ability is a far stretch. But if people want to believe in this type of propaganda, I wonder if they also believe we are winning the war in Iraq.

It’s not secret that Henry Cuellar angered a lot of Democratics in 2004 when Cuellar went against the advice of Party officials not to do it. In fact, Rodriguez had been an enormously popular Congressman, and chair of the House Hispanic Caucus, before he lost to Cuellar in the 2004. As a Congressman, Cuellar has publicly sided with the Bush administration; has supported Bush’s Social Security plan; and has served as Texas secretary of state under Gov Rick Perry. So Ciro’s lost to Cuellar during the March 2006 primary did not help, Ciro was viewed as damaged goods.

This is probably why he did drop out, despite the fact that Ciro cited it was due to family reasons and the inability to raise the needed funds. The last time that excuse was used was when Richard Morrison - who ran (and almost won too) against Tom DeLay in the 22nd Congressional District back in 2004 - opted not to run against DeLay in 2006.

As you all know I devoted 2 years of my life to win and placed my law practice on hold. With the prospects of having to spend another 2 years winning a primary and then challenging DeLay, my family’s financial situation is not the rosiest. My wife is expecting our 5th child in August and I feel that I must devote my time to getting my financial house in order. I think the biggest issue this county faces is our national debt and for me and mine to be facing debt that could quickly become unmanageable is irresponsible and unwise.

Some were speculating that the DCCC had something to do with Morrison’s decision to drop out.

Unlike Morrison, Ciro re-entered the race and many didn�t think he had a chance to win. To make it to the run off, he would have to beat Party favorite businessman Lukin Gilliland Jr. and the other 6 Democrats who were also running and hope Bonilla didn�t get 50% of the vote. In the end, Rodriguez won the right to participate in the runoff with 20.3% to Bonilla�s 48.1%.

Another obstacle Ciro was facing was the way the run-off elections were handled by the state. It seems Perry et al were doing everything in their power to keep Bonilla in office.

Gov. Rick Perry set election day for Dec. 12, with early voting Dec. 4 through Dec. 8. But Rodriguez and the League of United Latin American Citizens objected to the announcement’s timing, which came right before Thanksgiving. They argued that gave voters too little notice of the coming runoff.

Rodriguez and LULAC also noted that election day falls on Dia de la Virgen de Guadalupe, a major religious holiday for Mexican Catholics, potentially driving down the turnout of Hispanic voters.

Despite all that and a “S�, Se Puede” attitude, Ciro beat them all.

It is interesting to see the dropped-jaws at some of the bigger blogs in the blogosphere who had no idea Ciro could win this race and they are paying tribute to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee because they did drop cash there, after dragging their feet or could it be that members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus put some fire under their asses. Last year, members were angry at the Democratic leadership for not supporting Hispanic races and their races. In protest, member withheld paying their party dues.

Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus are withholding their party membership dues until they receive assurances from House Democratic leaders that the party will make a concerted effort to engage Hispanic voters and better serve the needs of the Hispanic community.

Lawmakers withholding their dues said that their decision was the culmination of several years of frustration with what they view as the Democratic Party�s failure to reach out to Hispanics and include them in the decision-making process. They are also increasingly concerned by results at the ballot box and of post-election surveys showing that President Bush won 44 percent of the Hispanic vote.

Caucus members last week demanded meetings with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) Chairman Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) and told The Hill that they would use their pending party dues as leverage to secure an audience. Pelosi was scheduled to receive the caucus in her office March 10, and Emanuel will host members one week later at DCCC headquarters.

Before anybody is to give out congratulatory messages to the DCCC, all congratulations should first go to those who deserve it and that goes to the members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. It was the Hispanic Caucus who were the first to come out to support Ciro before the DCCC even decided to pour in money into the race.

Hispanic Caucus members jumped behind Rodriguez in a Nov. 15 meeting, where they began a push to get party leaders involved in the race.

“I think everyone is doing their own part for Ciro, but the money is essential and it has to get rolling,” said Rep. Charlie Gonzalez, D-San Antonio, a Hispanic caucus vice chairman.

Maybe the Hispanic Caucus had to remind Pelosi and Rahm Emanuel of the promises they made last year or suffer the same consequences - withholding party dues again!

Now that Ciro has won, things are going to be interesting between Cuellar and Ciro - payback is a bitch and Cuellar knows it. The same type of payback Cuellar dished out on fellow members of Congress right after his March primaries. Rather makes you wonder if he wishes he could take back this statement.

“For all those members who feel they know my district better than I do, they�re just plan wrong,” he said later. “I don’t appreciate it. What happened to the incumbency rule?”

I am pretty sure Bonilla is wondering what happened to that incumbency rule that Cuellar mentioned.

It is obvious Cuellar backed the wrong horse when he decided to play with the Republicans. Now that the Democrats have control of the House, Cuellar has is hoping Nancy Pelosi, a friend of Ciro Rodriguez, will not rectified the situation now that the Democrats control the purse strings in the 110th Congress. So far, Cuellar is doing everything the party has asked, even going out in public and endorsing Ciro Rodriguez.

There are some Texas Democrats who were delight to see this, I still say, it is nothing more than a ploy.

Cuellar will begin his second term in January, he is still too far down the seniority ladder to land an appointment to a powerful committee and burning those bridges doesn�t help. Cuellar better brush up on that “New Direction for America,” agenda if he wants a good assignment. He serves on agriculture and budget and he is gunning for an assignment on the House Ways and Means Committee.

Ciro�s win is a major victory for Latinos, not just here in Texas, but in states where we have the majority. Something Cuellar had better take note. Gringo conservatives were riding on their �Great Brown Hope� because Bonilla was not only the Republicans only Mexican American Republican, but he also was a strong supporter for those nativist anti-immigration measures that were sponsored by xenophobic Republicans. He voted for the construction of the 700-mile border fence, and supported Rep. Jim �I hate Mexiskins� Sensenbrenner�s bill penalizing workers who hire undocumented immigrants.

The break down of the Latino majority counties the evidence shows Ciro beat Bonilla in a major landslide.
Latino majority counties
Bexar County - Ciro 56%, Bonilla - 43%
Dimmit County (85% Latino) - Ciro 75%, Bonilla 25%
Maverick County (95% Latino) - Ciro 85%, Bonilla 14%
Presidio County (85% Latino) - Ciro 60%, Bonilla 40%
Val Verde County (75% Latino) - Ciro 49% Bonilla 50%
Zavala County (91% Latino) Ciro 83%, Bonilla 16%

Here is the kicker, the district is the largest in Texas � it stretches from San Antonio to the Texas-Mexico border and out to far west Texas until El Paso. Sixty-one percent of the district’s voting age population is Hispanic, compared with 51 percent in 2004. If this all these people came out to vote for Ciro, then I will once again ask, how Red is Texas really? Despite having a huge money advantage and the incumbent factor on Bonilla side going into this election, it looks like even Republicans fall for their own lies, especially the lie that Texas is a Red state.

�Viva Ciro Rodriguez! �S�, Se Puede!

Technorati Tags: Ciro Rodriguez, Henry Bonilla, Texas’ 23rd District, Republican, Democrats, FL election, Ciro, Henry Cuellar, Hispanic Caucus, Nancy Pelosi

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