El Conservador - State & Local Politics

The Castro Twins’ New Adventures

Castro Twins Democrat U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro has decided to forgo re-election to his congressional seat in San Antonio next year and instead challenge Texas Republican U.S. Senator John Cornyn. Joaquin is joining his twin brother Julian, who is running for president, on a new political adventure.

Joaquin Castro decided to announce his candidacy for U.S. Senate on Monday, March 18 in San Antonio after El Paso Democrat Robert “Beto” O’Rourke announced he was running for president. O’Rourke was considering running for Cornyn's seat.

Joaquin has made some dubious news lately. In October, he accused Pres. Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, of orchestrating the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and had to scramble to “clarify” his comment. In November, he publicly complained about the presence of a San Antonio police patrol at the voting site claiming their presence might “intimidate” voters. Most recently, he challenged President Trump on the Emergency Declaration for funding a border wall, ignoring the invasion of illegal aliens and contraband.

Judge Halts Removal of Noncitizens from Voter Rolls

Voter Fraud1 On Wednesday, Feb 27, federal judge Samuel “Fred” Biery Jr., who was appointed by Bill Clinton to the U. S. District Judge for the Western District of Texas, halted the removal of any registered voters from Texas state voter rolls. Judge Biery's ruling is another blow to Texas' efforts for election integrity.

The liberal Hispanic organization LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens) brought the lawsuit after Texas Secretary of State David Whitley announced that a review of voter registration rolls found nearly 95,000 noncitizens were registered to vote. The study also found that about 58,000 had voted in one or more Texas elections.

LULAC, the Texas Democratic Party, and other liberal groups immediately alleged the report was racist and meant to intimated minority voters. Unfortunately, within days of the announcement, the State did find that more than 25,000 people on the state’s list had been erroneously identified and were, in fact, U.S. citizens.

Henry Cuellar & Local Media: Disingenuous and Misleading

Build the Wall Laredo Democrat Congressman Henry Cuellar held a press conference with local media in Laredo on Tuesday, Feb. 19, to inform them about the Department of Homeland Security’s plans to build 130 miles of border barriers in Border Patrol's Laredo sector. However, Cuellar spun his comments to fit the Democratic Party narrative, and the local newspaper, The Laredo Morning Times, conveniently did not question or find someone to counter Cuellar’s remarks.

Cuellar claimed that a third of the $8 billion President Trump has secured for a border wall through the national emergency declaration would likely go to into barriers in Webb and Zapata counties.

However, Cuellar complained that this money could be better spent on education, transportation or health care. He conveniently ignored the fact that the money was never meant for education, transportation or health care. The LMT ignored asking the question, too.

The Alamo, HB 1836 & Local Fake News

Alamo Last night, Friday, Feb. 22, WOAI TV news channel 4 reported that Texas State Representative Kyle Biedermann from District 73 in Fredericksburg filed a state bill to protect the Alamo’s Cenotaph and heritage. However, whereas the local news media usually can’t seem to find a Republican or conservative to counter comments by Democrats and liberals on issues, they did find Democrat San Antonio City Councilman Robert Trevino to respond to State Rep. Biedermann’s plans.

Trevino claimed the state should respect The Alamo Plan because it is a local decision. He also criticizes the bill’s use of eminent domain to control the development of the property surrounding the Alamo.

However, all Texans should understand The Alamo Plan was developed by a select committee of people handpicked by the liberal City Hall Establishment. The City is redesigning of the site and reinterpreting the history of the state’s most venerable symbol of Texas, the Alamo.

Another Blow to Hispanic Democrats in San Antonio

republican party of texas The special election last Tuesday, Feb. 12, was the latest in a troubling track record in special elections for San Antonio Democrats. Republican Fred Rangel took 38% of the total vote beating out four Democrats in a race for Texas House District 125. Rangel will now face Democrat Ray Lopez, a former SA city councilman, in a runoff in the heavy Hispanic district.

The Texas Democratic Party still feels confident it will keep the seat after the runoff because over 60 percent of the total vote on Tuesday night went to the Democratic candidates. However, the Republicans’ strong performance was the latest in a trend that has San Antonio Democrats worried, particularly in Hispanic neighborhoods.

Rangel was publicly endorsed by two top Texas Republicans, Gov. Greg Abbott and then U.S. Sen. John Cornyn. The high-level GOP support was similar to Pete Flores, the Pleasanton Republican who won the state Senate seat last year in the runoff of a special election.

Many feel that state GOP support for south Texas candidates was lacking in the past because former Texas House Speaker Joe Straus would not allow it. Straus was elected Speaker with 100% support from Democrats in the state House, and therefore he would not oppose south Texas Democrats or support their Republican challengers.

But it is a new day with Straus gone, and while the good news is that Rangel won, the bad news is that voter turnout continues to be very low. Overall, there were only 6,122 votes cast during early voting and on Election Day, for a 5.4 percent turnout.

Voter turnout for runoffs is usually even worst, and the challenge for Rangel will be to get Republicans and conservatives to the polls on election day. Lopez’ problem will be to consolidate the Democrats’ support behind him, as well as get them to the polls.

However, citizens and voters in House D-125 should remember how Lopez behaved like a local dictator when he was on the SA city council in the renaming of Old Highway 90. As his final act on the city council, Lopez pushed an ordinance through city council placing a five-year moratorium to prohibit the citizens from petitioning to restore the name of Old Highway 90.

Lopez’ ordinance was an extreme overreached of city government power by abridging the citizens’ right to petition their government for redress of grievances as per the Bill of Rights. If Lopez doesn’t respect the Bill of Rights at the city level, what will he do at the state level?

Republican and conservative voters in Texas House Dist. 125 need to go to the polls and defend their freedom and liberty from local and state tyrant.