Endorsement watch: Montemayor and Cohen

Another day, two more good endorsements by the Chron:

Joe A. Montemayor for State Representative District 127: Although this northeast Harris County district running from Kingwood to Baytown has been represented for eight terms by Republican incumbent Joe Crabb, the Chronicle feels that it is in need of new leadership.

Democratic challenger Joe Montemayor, a Navy veteran who served more than 25 years as an Immigration and Customs officer, has the background for the job. Montemayor is a small-business owner in Crosby who believes public school districts in the 127th are being starved of funds and must have more state support. On other issues, the candidate pledges to work to increase access to health care for those with financial challenges, strengthen and enforce environmental laws to protect our citizenry, and make Texas a leader in preventative medicine and medical research.

Ellen Cohen for State Representative District 134: In her first term in the House, Cohen has been a powerful force on health and environmental issues. The Chronicle urges voters to return her to Austin to continue that work.

Cohen, a breast cancer survivor whose district includes the Texas Medical Center, was the first House sponsor of Proposition 15. Voters approved this constitutional amendment to create the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas and fund $3 billion in research grants to search for treatments and cures for the disease.

In the past session, Cohen was a staunch advocate of the expansion of the Children's Health Insurance Program. She also fought a bill that would have gutted Mayor Bill White's efforts to enforce pollution laws from her position on the Urban Affairs Committee. Cohen also successfully pushed an adult entertainment fee to raise funds for victims of sexual violence without raising taxes. She joined a bipartisan coalition opposing a statewide ban on stem cell research.

In recognition of her work on medical issues, Rep. Cohen received the 2008 Patient Advocacy Award from the Texas Academy of Family Physicians this summer.

Voters can issue Cohen their own award at the ballot box.

The Chron has felt that HD127 has needed new leadership for at least three of Crabb's terms, because they've been endorsing his challengers since 2004. That made predicting their call for this race easy. It certainly helps that Montemayor continues a tradition of strong challengers in HD127. But it's fair to say that the Chron doesn't like Joe Crabb.

Cohen was an easy one to guess as well. The Chron, who understandably never liked Martha Wong in HD134, gave her a hearty recommendation in 2006, she did the things she said she was going to do after being elected, and she's running against an invisible opponent. What more do you need?

Posted by Charles Kuffner on October 18, 2008 to Election 2008