Hispanic versus Hispanic Politics-A Look at a Rio Grande Valley Election for Judge
Politics in the area known as the Rio Grande Valley of Texas has a colorful history. Located at the southern tip of the State the area has the highest concentration of Hispanics in the country at 90%. Although the Democratic party has always been dominant, by nature, the Hispanic residents tend to be social conservatives who may vote with the Republicans on national issues or state issues. Local elected Republican officials are very rare.
Some have complained that the area has a history of “boss rule” by the Democratic party whose history was written by Evan Anders, Boss Rule in South Texas: The Progressive Era (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1982). In fact in 1928 national attention was drawn to the area when local businessmen tried to form an alliance against “the bosses” which became very ugly with charges of discriminatory behavior of Anglo versus Hispanic and vice versa. In the 1940s, Lyndon Baines Johnson famous career as the Senate Majority Leader was launched when he defended the right of a Mexican American soldier to be buried in a national cemetery. This gained the edge he desperately needed to win elections in Texas from the Rio Grande Valley’s Mexican Americans who broke away from state party bosses and joined the New Deal machine against the old conservative Democrats. Today, although much of Texas is Republican in local officials, the Valley as locals call it remains the exception.
Recent events may signal a change in at least one election.
In 2007, the State of Texas created a new district court and the Republican Governor Rick Perry named a local attorney, Daniel Rios, was appointed to the bench of the new 449th District Court. Now the bench position is up for election and Rios is facing a Democratic challenger named Jesse Contreras. Historically normal expectations would be that the Democratic candidate would win easily and Rios would have expected to have been just a temporary appointment however this time its not that simple.
A local conservative activist, Virginia Townsend, is reported to have complained that the challenger, Contreras, has a history of going on to represent as clients those who have appeared before him in Mercedes, Texas where he presides as a municipal judge as was reported in the local newspaper, The Monitor. Further, Ms. Townsend has filed a complaint with the State Commission on Judicial Conduct however no action has been taken on the complaint. Under Texas law anyone may file a complaint about a judge or attorney but the investigation remains confidential until a final disposition is made. So far no disposition has been made for this complaint.
Probably the bigger problem for Mr. Contreras is his recent arrest for driving under the influence on South Padre Island. News of his arrest was carried extensively over local television stations and newspapers. The race got further attention this week when a much anticipated scheduled debate between the two candidates was canceled because Mr. Contreras was too busy campaigning.
According to The Monitor Mr. Contreras, a former basketball player in Mexico and criminal attorney, is portraying himself as the product of a local underprivileged background who can relate better to the juvenile offenders which will make up much of the caseload versus Mr. Rios who is a Princeton graduate, former assitant district attorney, and city attorney.
Those familiar with Valley politics know that the old days of Hispanic versus Anglo rhetoric have now been replaced with a new theme. Today the mantra is often affluent Hispanic from long time Valley family versus a champion of the chronic downtrodden Hispanic or newcomer immigrants. The subtle class warfare that is so rampant in all of Latin America does sometimes prevent many from all levels of economic success from being objective.
Many locals are saying that a Republican may win while others are saying the old ways will prevail in this election.
Tony Magaña grew up in McAllen Texas, attended Texas A&M University, holds a doctorate from Harvard University. The co-founder of Contempo Magazine has participated in Valley business for over 20 years.He is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.
