TX HD 15: Garcia, Pena, Laura Hinojosa Among Other Candidates Who May Seek Seat If Sitting Congressman Steps Down

Word that Congressman Ruben Hinojosa (D-Mercedes) will likely step down late this spring to either assume the presidency of UT Pan American or to serve as Ambassador to Mexico has brought more likely candidates to replace him out of the woodwork this week. 

When Capitol Annex broke the story that Hinojosa might resign earlier this week, only two potential candidates had emerged for the seat: State Rep. Armando “Mando” Martinez (D-Weslaco) and Hidalgo County Judge J.D. Salinas. Since the story broke, three additional names of possible contenders have surfaced. 

The first is Hidalgo County District Clerk Laura Hinojosa (D-McAllen). Hinojosa is the Congressman’s daughter. The second is Edinburg City Councilman. The third is State Rep. Aaron Pena (D-Edinburg). 

Laura Hinojosa was reportedly making calls about the race last week to some of the Valley’s wealthy political donors. While we’ve heard no reports of Garcia making “money” calls, he has reportedly expressed an interest in the race. In the case of Pena, it seems to be the other way around: a a few key folks in Edinburg would like to see the seat held by one of their own, and they don’t think Garcia could win it. 

Let’s take a look at the these three candidates plus Salinas and Martinez. 

Armando “Mando” Martinez, (D-Weslaco). Martinez has emerged as an early frontrunner. A firefighter and paramedic for the city of Weslaco, Martinez was first elected to the Texas House in 2004 and took office in 2005. He is the nephew of the late State Rep. Renato Cuellar. To his disadvantage is that he comes from Waslaco, which isn’t the district’s major population center. 

Laura Hinojosa (D-McAllen). While she has the benefit of having ran and won a countywide race, she’s only been in office for two years (before that she was a teacher) at the county level. Too, she works in a position that typically isn’t high on the name recognition ladder. (that of District Clerk). To her advantage, she is the daughter of the sitting Congressman. However, in a hotly contested Democratic primary, she cold find that name recognition won’t help you win without a runoff. 

Aaron Pena, Jr., (D-Edinburg). This race would be an interesting choice for Pena. He has the advantage of coming from Edinburg–one of the district’s major population centers–which, combined with his appeal to moderates could help him rise to the top of a field with a lot of Democratic candidates. One disadvantage is that he was a “Craddick D.” While that will matter little to a many people in Valley (especially in Pena’s district), it will matter to others, including financial backers from Central Texas. Plus, it could cost him some important Democratic votes that could go to other candidates. 

J. D. Salinas (D-McAllen). Salinas is a political fixture and has his own machine in Hidalgo County. While he was only elected County Judge in 2006, he’s served in public office since he was first elected County Clerk in 1998 at age 29. He, too, has negatives. In addition to being injured by people being upset on his positions related to the border wall, any candidacy he may mount can’t be benefitting from persistent rumors alleging he is going to switch parties to run as a Republican in the special election.

Gus Garcia. Again, Garcia has only held office since 2006, when he defeated Eddie Cisneros Johnson for a seat on the Edinburg City Commission. He reportedly has a fair number of folks who dislike him for one reason or another.