Richard Raymond Eyes Tough Race {South TX U.S. House District, 2006}

Laredo, TX, Morning Times ^ | 07-09-05 | Cortez, Tricia

[Theodore R.]

Raymond eyes tough race

By TRICIA CORTEZ LAREDO MORNING TIMES

The March Democratic primary is eight months away, an eternity in politics, but the race for one of Laredo's two congressional seats promises to be as furious as an Alabama tick in summer.

This week, state Rep. Richard Raymond, D-Laredo, made clear his intentions to challenge incumbent Congressman Henry Cuellar of Laredo.

However, Raymond said Friday he would make no formal announcement until the special session on school finance in Austin is over.

Over the years, both legislators have done little to hide their dislike and lack of support for one another. Adding more fuel to this political fire will be Ciro Rodriguez, of San Antonio.

"Neither Henry nor Richard resides in the 28th district," Rodriguez said by phone Friday from his campaign office. "They're both carpetbaggers."

Federal election laws state that a congressional candidate does not have to live in his respective district. Cuellar and Raymond live in neighboring Congressional District 23, which is represented by the well-financed San Antonio Republican Henry Bonilla.

Last July, Cuellar inched out a razor-thin 58-vote margin of victory over Rodriguez, an eight-year incumbent.

Rodriguez launched a bitter legal fight against Cuellar that ended four months after the March primary with a ruling by the Fourth Court of Appeals. All five Republican justices voted in Cuellar's favor, while the two Democrats supported Rodriguez.

Since then, Rodriguez has been drumming up support for his race and formed a consulting firm with his former Chief-of-Staff Jeff Mendelson on education, water and homeland security issues.

Raymond, meanwhile, sent out a July 6 letter to potential supporters and said he is running "because I believe we need to change the direction the congressional leadership is moving our country."

He challenged Cuellar's standing as a Democrat, citing legislation Cuellar filed supporting school vouchers when he was a state representative.

He also accused Cuellar of attacking fellow Laredoan Tony Sanchez during his failed bid for governor against Rick Perry. Raymond filled the seat vacated by Cuellar in 2001, after Republican Gov. Rick Perry appointed Cuellar Texas secretary of state.

"More recently, during his first few days in Washington, Henry Cuellar sided with the extreme right of the Republican Party and was the only Democratic member from South Texas and the entire U.S.-Mexico border who voted legislation that would have allowed the building of a wall between the U.S. and Mexico," Raymond wrote.

"I do not want to build walls, I want to build bridges," he stated.

Cuellar did not return a Friday phone call, but his campaign manager Colin Strother said Raymond's decision to run for Congress is "a betrayal of the community and he should be ashamed of that."

"This guy is not from Laredo. He does not understand the struggle this community went through to get a congressman of its own. He is totally disregarding that," Strother said Friday of Raymond, who hails from Benavides. "He is making Laredo's congressional seat vulnerable to San Antonio again for his own blind political ambition."

In a Friday phone interview, Raymond said he would not elaborate on his campaign plans or his political platform before his formal announcement.

"But fundamentally, there are big differences between the way I look at things and the way Henry Cuellar looks at things and the way Ciro looks at things," Raymond said.

He also said his decision to run for Congress was not driven or based on the wishes of state Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, an arch-political enemy of Cuellar.

"Of course not," Raymond said. "We're all grown up. A person is not going to run for Congress because one person asks or tells them to do it."

Strother said Cuellar will beat Raymond because Raymond "is not from here and does not work here. He's a law student in Austin."

Rodriguez had equally harsh words for Raymond, who was once considered a political friend.

"Let me know when you find out what kind of employment Richard Raymond has had for the last several years," Rodriguez said.

(Tricia Cortez may be reached at 728-2568 or by e-mail at tricia@lmtonline.com.)

07/09/05

[Theodore R.]

A three-way Democrat primary for Congress is shaping up for March 2006 in TX House Dist. 28, a 2-1 Democrat stronghold.