Posted on 03/06/2004 7:14:31 AM PST by SwinneySwitch
Political vets pitted against newcomers.
Congressional District 25 links the Hill Country with the borderland. But in this newly designed district, four candidates are battling on two fronts - Austin and Hidalgo County.
Last year's redistricting battle has fragmented South Texas into ribbon-shaped congressional districts with counties that have little in common.
The district, according to Texas legislative reports, is 68 percent Hispanic. Live Oak and Karnes counties, the district's most conservative counties, are sandwiched between Caldwell, Duval, Gonzales, Jim Hogg, Starr and portions of Hidalgo and Travis counties.
The district will have two primaries.
The Democrats are Lloyd Doggett, the U.S. congressman from Austin who has represented Travis County since 1995, and Leticia Hinojosa, a former state district judge from Hidalgo County. In the Republican primary, Rebecca Armendariz Klein, former chairwoman of the Texas Public Utilities Commission since 2002, faces Regner A. Capener, a minister from Mission.
But Doggett, who was unavailable for a phone interview, has said this race has more opponents than are listed on the ballot.
"My real opponent in this race is not here tonight," Doggett said in a recent campaign speech. "His name is Tom DeLay. He's the one who set out to eliminate me from Congress and I'm here to see that his goal is not fulfilled."
DeLay, a Texas Republican, played a major part in the redistricting battle that could give the GOP seven more congressional seats and break the Texas delegation's 16-16 split. The new map was adopted by the GOP-controlled Legislature last year after months of turmoil that included two out-of-state walkouts by the Democrats.
Doggett, 57, is a member of House Committee on Ways and Means, Health Subcommittees, Select Revenue Measures Subcommittee, co-founder of the House Information Technology Roundtable and a member on Congressional Taskforce on Tobacco and Health. He has voted against most of Bush's major proposals and has a strong pro-union voting record.
Doggett is leading all candidates in campaign contributions. With roughly $2 million in his war chest, he has raised $439,362 and spent $627,510, according to campaign finance reports. Hinojosa, 46, has $12,512 on hand and has raised $223,062. She has spent $228,549 on her campaign, according to campaign finance disclosure reports filed last month.
Hinojosa has made education one of her top issues in this campaign. She has criticized the Bush administration for failing to fund and implement No Child Left Behind, and opposes use of public dollars to fund private schools and voucher system because it transfers tax dollars out of the public school system.
She supports closing the gap in preschool programs for minority children, increasing funding for local Head Start programs and increasing teachers' compensation.
"I have lived in both ends of the district and I understand firsthand what the problems of the district are," Hinojosa said. "I share the life experience of the majority of the people who live in this district."
In the Republican primary, political newcomers Klein and Capener have raised a fraction of the Democratic candidates' funds. Klein has raised $46,050 in campaign contributions and has spent $22,296. Capener has raised $1,560 and spent $1,218 on his campaign.
Klein, 38, worked at the White House under President George H.W. Bush, as associate director for national security in the Office of Presidential Personnel and as an assistant to the director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency.
Klein said she supports George W. Bush's immigration plan, increasing access to health care, and reducing the burden on small businesses. She said she also supports a bipartisan plan to allow employees the financial resources to pick an insurance plan.
"I really care about helping deliver a better quality of live for ourselves and our loved ones," Klein said.
Capener, 61, said he supports an effort to improve private funding for social services to off load government agencies, increase enforcement for the nation's water treaty and polices, and increase economic development.
Capener, who has been a minister since 1971, said the district needs a representative who can help lead the nation morally.
"I believe I have real value to offer the district, the people in the state, and in the nation," Capener said. "I felt we needed a change, not just a representative for business issues and not just a representative for local issues, but a representative that works to deal with the moral and spiritual issues our nation faces."
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact Quincy C. Collins at 886-3792 or collinsq@caller.com.
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