Federal Funds and Valley Politics
Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator John Cornyn was in the Valley recently and received endorsements from Pharr Mayor Palacios and other local democrats. Other prominent local democrats such as McAllen Mayor Richard Cortez were in the crowd standing with John Cornyn but as far as we know made no specific endorsement apart from general support. A source which will remain anonymous has told Contempo that threats to hold up Federal funds for levee repair may have played a role in the recent events.
A review of contributors to the campaign of John Cornyn has shown significant contributions by the Boeing Corporation which is the lead contractor for the U.S. Mexican Border Fence. Senator Cornyn voted for the Border Fence and as far as we can tell has not been helpful to legislation proposed by our local U.S. Representatives,Cuellar and Hinojosa,in pushing for legislation which would call for removal of environmental waivers and a more careful study of all border control alternatives. Mr. Cornyn also voted negatively for the immigration reform jointly recommended by both Senators McCain and Kennedy last year and voted no on establishing a new guest worker program bill. He has been an advocate for free trade with all Latin American countries.
A recent Rasmussen poll and a study by the Lake Partners Research Group indicates that there is a now a close race between the incumbent and Democratic challenger Rick Noriega of Houston. 47% of likely voters favor Cornyn while 43% favor Noriega. Noriega has been an outspoken critic of the construction of the Border Fence.