Last week, Robert Miller mentioned that there was talk that former County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia might challenge Sen. Mario Gallegos in the 2012 primary. PDiddie expanded on that, and the chatter eventually led to a denial from both politicians via their shared consultant, Dan McClung; Campos pooh-poohed the denial. So basically, believe what and who you want about this. If it’s going to happen, we’ll know soon enough.
What I know is that I’ve been redistricted out of SD06, so if it does come to pass, I won’t be forced to pick a side between two people I like. Sen. Gallegos has done a lot of good representing this district; he’s certainly voted as I would want him to most of the time. I have no doubt that Garcia would also do an excellent job if she were to be elected. Having said that, let me say this: Whether by his choice or not, if it is time for new blood in SD06, what I would prefer to see is some actual new blood. There are four young, talented, and (I hope) ambitious State Reps whose districts include parts of SD06: Jessica Farrar, Carol Alvarado, Ana Hernandez Luna, and Armando Walle. Farrar is now a senior member of the House – she was the Democratic Caucus Chair this past session and did a fine job under terrible circumstances – which is a good argument for her to stay put, but the others have no such constraint. If there’s going to be a change in SD06, this is where I’d go looking for it.
Again, I mean no disrespect at all to Sen. Gallegos, who as far as I know isn’t going anywhere, or Sylvia Garcia, who was an outstanding member of Commissioners Court and who I still think would make a great Harris County Tax Assessor. I just see this as a logical extension of the case for Joaquin Castro in CD35. I’ve yet to hear a single Democrat in Texas tell me lately that we’re doing just fine with what we’re doing now. Well, if change is what we want then a key aspect of that is to make way for the next generation of leaders. Sen. Mario Gallegos isn’t going to run statewide for anything, but Sen. Walle or Sen. Hernandez Luna or Sen. Alvarado might. Hell, if one of them were to succeed Sen. Gallegos in 2012, I’d start beating the drum for them as a statewide possibility in 2014. If we’re not thinking about this sort of thing, we’re setting ourselves up for failure in the future.
Nobody knows when Texas is going to turn blue. I think it’ll happen this decade, but beyond that it’s a straight up guess. There are a number of factors that will affect that, and one of them is the quality of the candidates we put on the ballot going forward. If there’s an opportunity to upgrade our bench, we need to take it. What exactly do we have to lose?
It will be interesting to see if someone uses Gallegos’ pro camera voting record against him in the election. Supporting an Arizona Goldman Sachs corporation might gain some traction with voters in his district. Along with Whitmire Gallegos helped block a statewide ban in 2005 that could have avoided all of the issues we are facing now. Gallegos also voted to expand photo enforcement this past session by voting for CSSB1485 which would expand ticket cameras on school buses.
It took the Astros a while to realize that they had to dump costly old talent and start with some ambitious youngsters if they ever were to escape their dismal present. The November 2010 elections were the equivalent 100-loss season for the Harris County Democratic Party and we really do need to groom that new blood to be ready for the opportunities coming toward the end of this decade. The rising stars of our state house delegation need some folks to step out of the way, with appreciation of course, to make room for the brighter, more progressive future.
I am with you 100%. I have no problem with Mario’s voting record, but the party is never going to grow unless we make room for the next generation. Carol Alvarado would be my pick, but any of those House members you named would be just fine.
Lloyd Doggett has been great for decades, but Joaquin Castro is the future.
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