The Lion's Den Pt. 2: Labor Day breakfast showcases candidates

I am a union guy and as most readers know, I grew up in a union family. So I always feel a little torn about going to Labor Day functions because they are usually a dog and pony show of candidates and elected officials who do little, if anything, for the working man on a regular basis.

I know that remark isn’t going to make me all that popular with my friends that happen to be Democratic elected officials, but hell, someone has to say it. You can’t find a candidate or elected official when you have a grievance with management or are having a hard time getting a new contract signed.

But on the other hand, Democratic politicians take up the fight in legislative bodies and help on that front. Republicans would do away with unions if they had the chance, and have pretty much done so in many states.

I also feel funny about getting dressed up to a working man’s breakfast, but when in Rome…

This year’s breakfast was no exception. As usual, the dignitaries and big shots out-numbered the working Joe’s and Jill’s. I was invited to sit at the table of the John Sharp campaign, though I am not necessarily a supporter, but I think people assumed I was because I wrote a piece that was critical of the immigration stance of Bill White, another Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate. I haven’t really made up my mind on who I support to fill Kay Bailey Hutchison’s seat.

But I sat at the same table as some grassroots folks, KHRO 1150 talk radio host Raul Amaya, and a fellow blogger. I ended up seated next to Frank Macias, an attorney who is running for County Court at Law #2. We talked politics and some inside-baseball about other races, including a possible recall attempt against Mayor Pro-Tempore Emma Acosta and the fact that I don’t think we vet candidates very well in this town, but we stayed away from any discussion about his race.

He’d given me a push card earlier in the morning but I put it on a table and someone took it. I was pretty bummed about that because I like to collect material from candidates because they reveal a lot about the candidates and you never know what you are going to find.

I eventually found another push card of his, but I wish I had read through it when I was talking with Macias because it had something interesting in it. During our conversation about vetting candidates, I specifically referred to Judge Manny Barraza, who is currently accused of trading sex for favorable decisions. (In a striking case of irony, it looks like his opponent in that race, Don Minton, actually may have represented Barraza in the past.)

My basic point to Macias was the fact that Barraza was only elected because he was a Democrat and that if voters knew more about his history and political party was taken out of the equation, he wouldn’t have won. Macias didn’t respond to my thesis.

After reading his push card, I think I see why. Along the bottom of the push card is a line that says, “A REAL DEMOCRAT FOR COUNTY COURT AT LAW #2.” Oh well, I’m sure I’ll get the chance to ask him about it later along the campaign trail.

The factionism was in full affect at the breakfast, with only the candidates and myself, floating around the crowd between the factions. There was noticeable tension between various groups in the room.

But in a speech that proved to be a tough act to follow, Black El Paso Democrats Chair Don Williams attempted to put the local divisions to rest. ”We’re going to have to all check ourselves ... Democrats ladies and gentleman, we are going to have to stop fighting with each other. What is it that keeps us from getting together? My union is better than your union, my Democratic club is better than your Democratic Club. Get over it!”

Everyone clapped, but time will tell how many of them actually take that message to heart.

Word to the wise when having a function, don’t ask Don Williams to speak if you don’t intend on Williams delivering the key note because he will outshine whomever is delivering the keynote, with the possible exception of Monsignor Banuelas, who also attended the breakfast.

But Congressman Silvestre Reyes, a notoriously poor public speaker, actually gave a pretty strong speech. He almost seems invigorated by the heat he’s been taking from the right and delivered the most passionate speech I’ve heard him give. My favorite line was a bit of red-meat for Democrats aregarding Republicans who want to have a public vote on health care reform, “There was an election, you lost, we won, and we’re getting healthcare reform.”

Interview with Reyes

I started to play my third favorite game, Count the Candidates, but I quickly lost count. Mostly because I am confused about what judge runs which court and who is up for re-election and who is not. Speaking of judges, there is talk amongst at least three different judicial candidates that El Paso Democratic Party Chair Danny Anchondo may be considering a run as well. That will be interesting because there are no open judicial seats, so he’ll be taking on an incumbent and due to his Party influence, will most likely win and win easily. That’s going to be a career-ending loss for the candidate he beats.

It’s safe to say just about every candidate for any office was there and most Democratic elected officials were in attendance, with the exception of County Judge Anthony Cobos, who I never really thought was a Democrat to begin with, the guy who knocked him off City Council, city Rep. Beto O’rourke (thanks a lot Beto, couldn’t you just take a dive?), city Reps Eddie Holguin, Rachel Quintana, and Carl Robinson, and County Commissioner Willie Gandara.

In fairness to Quintana and Robinson, I never see them at Democratic Party functions.

Ever.

I did see a pretty touching moment between a couple of probable opponents in the March election. The exchange was between candidate for county judge, Larry Medina, and rumored fellow candidate, Commissioner Veronica Escobar. They exchanged a genuine greeting and hug and talked about their families. Medina even revealed to Escobar what he and his wife are going to name their child. Turns out they are having a boy and the new addition to the Medina family will be a tocayo to a relative of Escobar.

I still expect the race for county judge to be the most dirty and bloody race this town has seen in a while, but don’t expect any nonsense between those two.

The child’s middle name was selected during the breakfast and is great name, but Medina asked for his family’s privacy to be respected, so I won’t reveal it because people can be very mean sometimes and kids are off-limits.

The names of all the candidates in attendance is too long to list, but there are a couple of highlights. First is Beto Acosta who will be taking on the incumbent County Court at Law#1 Judge Ricardo Herrera. Acosta has a Joe Moody quality about him, but will face a tough battle because Herrera is extremely active in the Democratic Party and attends a lot of events. He’s a guy that knows how to keep hold of the robe.

The second is Sergio Lewis. He was not introduced as a dignitary despite being a former elected official and likely candidate for Commissioners' Court. He’s a bit of a victim of his own strategy. For some reason, a field of candidates wanted to wait until September to announce. There is no rationale behind that because its best to be first and position yourself in voter’s mind’s first. So since he hasn’t announced, though it’s pretty well-known in political circles that he’s going to run, he didn’t get a shout-out.

Note to all you rumored candidates, come out of the closet and announce. Get in gear now, because the money will be tight through the election, so you have to start hustling for votes the hard way and you’ll need every minute you have to get it done.

The final potential candidate who was in attendance was Mike Torres, who is a prominent lawyer. There are strong indications that he is going to take on first-term state Rep. Marisa Marquez. Torres is a really smart guy with a fantastic sense of humor, which means he will be pretty personable to voters. The interesting thing about Torres v. Marquez is all the subplots of the race. Marquez went through a bloody race with the Moreno clan and they have a long memory.

But the Morenos probably hate state Rep. Norma Chavez worse than Marquez. Now that Marquez and Chavez are feuding, will the Morenos back Marquez, who ended Paul Moreno’s 40+ year political career?

Or will they back Torres, who could end up being supported by Chavez since she worked closely with Torres on the Obama campaign?

Or does Chavez back long-time friend Carlos Aguilar who absolutely was not involved in a physical altercation with Marquez at the Pershing Inn?

Or will Chavez even back a candidate after spending political capital supporting Marquez and then feeling scorned in the end?

I told you politics was like a novela.

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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.