I suppose you already knew that term-limited Council Member Carol Alvarado was planning to run for Rick Noriega’s to-be-vacated HD145 seat, but in the event you didn’t, now you do.
Although District I City Council Member Carol Alvarado stopped just short of saying so, her final “State of the District” breakfast on Saturday may have doubled as an early campaign event for the 2008 race for State Rep. Rick Noriega’s seat.
“I’d say within the next 145 days – I kind of like that number, 145 – you’ll know what we’re doing,” Alvarado said, drawing laughter and applause from the crowd in the Nautilus Ballroom of the Downtown Aquarium, 410 Bagby.
Noriega, D-Houston, represents District 145 but is “looking for another job,” as Alvarado, who is completing her third and final term, quipped. Specifically, he has formed an exploratory committee to run for U.S. Sen. John Cornyn’s seat.
Alvarado’s remarks, while highlighting her accomplishments at City Hall, were peppered with references to her possible future in state government.
There’s another candidate looking at HD145, a businessman named Elias de la Garza, about whom I know nothing. Marc Campos, who is Alvarado’s consultant, has been busy harping on de la Garza’s recent history of voting in Republican primaries, which is certainly a relevant issue in a Democratic primary. This has all the makings of a nasty fight – there are a number of people who don’t like Campos and vice versa, and Campos consulted for Laura Salinas in her unsuccessful campaign against Rep. Ana Hernandez in the 2005 special election for HD143. We’ll see how this goes.