Pena Will Seek Another Term

During the recent leiglslative session, State Rep. Aaron Pena (D-Edinburg) had hinted that he may not seek another term. However, via his blog, he has announced he will indeed seek another term of office. He also seems to hint in a McAllen Monitor article he’ll be supporting Sylvester Turner (D-Houston) for Speaker. That could be interesting, as Turner will reportedly be challenged by at least two people in the Democratic Primary.

That same article also reiterates a point about Valley “Craddick D’s” I’ve been making for some time, which is that their loyalty to Craddick or any other speaker is almost irrelevant in Valley politics and probably won’t have much of a damper on their re-election efforts:

It remains to be seen whether Democrats who supported Craddick have made themselves a target in March primaries.

[UT Pan-American Political Science Proffessor Jerry] Polinard doesn’t think they have.

“I don’t think that support of Craddick has strong negative consequences for any of the Valley Craddick Ds, particularly because they have been able to use their influence to bring goodies home to the district,” Polinard said.

State Rep. Eddie Lucio III, D-Brownsville, voted for Craddick in January but withdrew his support about one week before the unsuccessful attempts to overthrow the speaker.

Four other Valley representatives, all Democrats, did not support Craddick for re-election in January — state Reps. Rene Oliveira of Brownsville, Armando “Mando” Martinez of Weslaco, Veronica Gonzales of McAllen and Juan M. Escobar of Kingsville.

Remember that in the Valley, it’s more about overall quality of work and bringing home the bacon than about things like this. It’s odd, perhaps sad to some, and a result of generations of machine politics. However, remember also that much of the Valley, while Democratic, is more conservative than areas of Dallas or Houston as a result of a heavily Roman Catholic population and a growing upper-middle-class among Hispanic voters who tend to vote more along the lines of pocketbook issues as opposed to “social justice,” or similar issues.