The Lion's Den: Tacos de Chapulin, John Sharp and a room full of candidates

More than 100 people filled the tables in Cafe Mayapan on Saturday to see Democratic Candidate for the United States Senate John Sharp. The event, sponsored by state Rep. Norma Chavez, city Rep. Eddie Holguin, and the Camino Real Mexican-American Democrats, was a chance for Democratic Party activists to hear from Sharp and to get answers to their questions about his platform.

Entertainment was provided by Star Chacon, who sang for about 30 minutes while people were treated to some free food courtesy of the Sharp campaign. More on the food later. Chacon is a much more talented singer than I remembered from the El Paso County Democratic Convention and gave a great rendition of "At Last" by Etta James. Of course former talk show host and frequent NPT commentor Fernie the Attorney, Chacon's dad, was also in attendance. Chavez introduced Fernie and said it was time for him to get a new show, then proceeded to choke on her own words.

Sharp laid out his platform and spoke with the crowd for about an hour covering everything from health care, to the military, to the United States' relationship with Mexico. He spoke for a little while in Spanish and spent a great deal of time explaining how important education is to his campaign platform.

The great thing about events like these is you get a chance to see all the candidates, or candidates that haven't announced yet, in attendance working the room and trying to get noticed.

Some of the candidates in attendance were Norma Favela (District Cerk), Connie Telles (District Clerk), Frank Macias (County Court #2), Beto Acosta (County Court #1), and Judge Julie Gonzalez (County Court #2). Sergio Lewis was also in attendance and was announced as a candidate for Commissioners' Court by Chavez, but he quickly reminded the audience that he has not officially announced his candidacy for any seat.

Also in the crowd were the usual list of party insiders including Tigua Lt. Gov. Carlos Hisa, Black El Paso Democrats Chair Don Williams, Chair of the Camino Real Mexican American Democrats Lily Ruiz, former head of the El Paso County Democratic Party Queta Fierro, Lisa Montenegro of the Ysleta Independent School District, and Judge Bill Moody.

Mike Apodaca, who is a member of the Texas Democratic Party Executive Committee and a former President of the Texas Young Democrats was in attendance in his newest capacity, Regional Field Director for Organizing for America, which is a leftover from the Obama campaign initiative. The very interesting thing about the Obama structure is that it didn't just go away after the election. The president is utilizing the existing organizational structure to campaign for healthcare reform at the grassroots level.

Apodaca is one of those guys who always seems to be near the center of power in the Democratic Party in El Paso. He was a key figure in state Rep. Joe Moody's campaign and is one of the few people in El Paso who seems to be able to float around the various party factions with ease. He's generally well-liked by most people in the party and he was a Hillary delegate at the state convention but was one of the few people other than County Attorney Jose Rodriguez who was talking about the importance of uniting the El Paso Democratic Party delegation. Once Apodaca becomes a little more assertive, he'll end up running the El Paso Democratic Party.

I thought that after the departure of El Paso Grassroots head honcho John Padalino, who I had hoped would be the next chair of the El Paso County Democratic Party, for a job in the Obama administration that the effort might slowly fade out. But it appears that the structure remains intact and activists have been circulating petitions around Democratic Party events over the last few weeks. They were at the Black El Paso Democrats meeting and were also in attendance at the John Sharp Meet and Greet.

One thing I've noticed as I've made my rounds around the usual party functions is the fact that so many of the judicial candidates are coming out to campaign so soon. Usually they don't start campaigning this early, but there could be several factors at play. When I talked to several of the candidates on Saturday, they generally stuck to two themes. Either it was "my opponent is already campaigning, so therefore I must" or it's "resources are tighter in this economy so I have to start fundraising and talking to voters earlier than normal".

I think both are contributing factors, but I have another theory. I think the indictment of Judge Manny Barraza may be another reason the candidates are coming out early. For the first time in a long time, people will actually be paying attention to who they elect as judges around here. Or at least they should be.

Even before the allegations against Judge Barraza surfaced I had talked about the importance of vetting our judicial candidates more rigorously. Though he's maintained a lower profile than previously, Judge Barraza hasn't completely disappeared from the political scene and attended a heated and well-attended meeting regarding the talk of a bridge in the valley last month. I also see him pretty regularly around the Eastside, as I did last night at a local watering hole.

So getting back to food, there was a theme of the day at the event. Tacos de Chapulin was the main course. It started off with Lily Ruiz challenging the manhood of Holguin and I. Personally I am a sucker for those kind of challenges, which Lily obviously knows. So I ate one, but as the saying goes, misery loves company. Rep. Chavez happened to walk up and we challenged her to eat one and she did. Once Chavez ate the taco, Holguin had to and reluctantly did.

So Chavez, showing a sense of humor, ordered some for the guest of honor, John Sharp. When we ate ours, we shoveled as much guacamole as possible on the tacos, partially to hide the taste of grasshopper, and partially to hide the various grasshopper body parts. Sharp dove in head first and ate his taco without guacamole.

It was a lot of fun watching him force it down.

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Abeytia writes the Lionstar blog and is a political animal who spends way too much time traveling the wilds of El Paso politics. Reach him at lionstar@thelionstarblog.com.