So many rumors, so little time.
Among those voicing support for the alternative [County Commissioners] map was Sylvia Garcia, who was Precinct 2 commissioner from 2002 until this year. Garcia’s loss – by 2,310 votes – to Republican newcomer Jack Morman in last November’s election was the first time in 36 years an incumbent commissioner had been toppled.
Garcia had $751,601 in her campaign account as of June 30, but she said her presence at Monday’s meeting shouldn’t be interpreted as a political gesture.
“Latinos are 40 percent of this county,” Garcia said. “For me, it’s really about making sure that Latinos are represented and represented fairly on this map. For anyone to suggest that (the county’s) proposal is a Latino opportunity precinct, it’s just plain laughable.”
Asked whether the opportunity she was working to preserve might be her own, she didn’t quite rule out a challenge to Morman in 2014.
“It’s too far down the road,” she said. “That is not a consideration or a factor at all in me doing any of this.”
Morman’s chair isn’t the only one Garcia potentially, someday, perhaps could be seeking, however.
The county has been filled with chatter about Garcia possibly challenging County Attorney Vince Ryan in next spring’s Democratic primary.
“Anybody who’s ever been in office looks at every ballot,” Garcia said when asked about the rumor. “I still have a lot of good life ahead of me and public service has been something that’s been a calling for me for many, many years. I do miss it, and I will look at every opportunity.”
Pressed specifically about a possible challenge to Ryan, she said, “Been there, done that — that’s all I’ll say officially.”
Checking the scoreboard, the offices for which Garcia has been mentioned as a possible candidate include her old County Commissioners seat, County Attorney, Tax Assessor, Congress in CD29, and State Senate in SD06. As Campos points out, that still leaves a bunch of other possibilities, but hey, she’s just one woman. There’s only so much even she can do.
Jokes aside, my strong preference if Garcia wants to run for something – and I hope she does – is for her to run for something that is currently held by a Republican. Tax Assessor and County Commissioner fit that bill, though the latter would not be an option for her till 2014, assuming she has no desire to move to the west side of the county. If she wants to run for State Rep in HD144, or Congress in the new CD36, which isn’t Republican held but is supposed to be, more power to her. I’ll be happy to support her in any way I can. If we’re talking about a primary challenge to an incumbent Democrat, then my strong preference is for some new blood to be given priority, regardless of which incumbent and which office we’re talking about. I don’t have any say in that beyond the yakking I do in this space, but there you have it. We’ll see what happens.
“Anybody who’s ever been in office looks at every ballot,” Garcia said.
I would submit that that is not a good thing. We need fewer people with that perspective, not more, in both the parties.