Posted on 11/12/2002 5:42:32 AM PST by Theodore R.
S. Texas Demos view GOP control
Associated Press
BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) - Despite predictions to the contrary by Republican leaders, South Texas Democratic lawmakers said they're confident they will still have power and influence in a state House and Senate now firmly under GOP control.
Frank Yturria of Brownsville, an avid supporter of Republican candidates and causes, said his party's General Election victories have rendered the Cameron County Democratic delegation useless.
"They are all going to be insignificant Democrats," said Yturria, an appointee of Gov. Rick Perry last year to the Texas Historical Commission.
"They have no political influence, no power, no nothing," Yturria said in Sunday's editions of The Brownsville Herald.
"That is what 'la palanca' (straight party ticket) has given the Rio Grande Valley," Yturria said. "They all campaigned for Tony Sanchez and for the Democratic straight party ticket. What has it gotten them? It means now that Brownsville and the Rio Grande Valley will remain a poverty stricken area with Third World conditions."
Yturria's comments mirror those of Frank Morris, chairman of the Republican Party in Cameron County, who said South Texas Democrats "will be on the outside looking in because that is what the voters determined here in the Valley."
Yturria added: "All of them are going to lose the committees they have chaired."
State Rep. Rene Oliveira, D-Brownsville, described the words of Yturria and other Republican hard-liners as "mean-spirited, arrogant, and terroristic rhetoric."
Oliveira and state Rep. Jim Solis, D-Harlingen, argued that their earned seniority and experience in the Texas House is not to be easily dismissed. They also point to established bipartisan efforts and long-lasting friendships forged with members across the aisle.
"I have served under four different governors and now, under four different speakers and it has always been and always will be bipartisan," Oliveira said. "I would not have carried and passed major pieces of legislation ... without Republican support. That will have to continue."
In referring to the county delegation, Yturria included state Rep. Irma Rangel, D-Kingsville, who now represents Cameron County, because of last year's redistricting of the 43rd District.
Oliveira, who ranks 14th in seniority among the 150 members of the House, is chairman of the Ways & Means Committee and also serves in the Public Education Committee and the Select Committee on Teacher Health Insurance.
Rangel, who ranks fourth in seniority in the House, chairs the Higher Education Committee and serves on the Pensions & Investments committee. Solis chairs the Economic Development Committee and serves on the Calendars and Judicial Affairs committees and also enjoys seniority.
"If Speaker-elect Tom Craddick continues with the bipartisan trend, which his colleagues say he will, then we should do well in the Valley," Solis said. "There is no room for extremists."
In the Senate, Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, serves on numerous committees including Business & Commerce, Committee of the Whole Senate, Finance, Natural Resources, and he chairs the Subcommittee on Border Affairs.
"After visiting very briefly with Lt. Gov.-elect David Dewhurst, I believe he will be very fair with me," Lucio said. "I believe that probably because of my seniority, I will keep what I have now.
"He (Dewhurst) was very cordial and said that he wanted to work with all of us bipartisanly to achieve our goal," Lucio said.
That's the kind of talk that resuscitated Bill Clinton after the election of '94. Gloating is a bad idea.
I thought it was the gay party.
Notice how the first story quotes Ms. Olivera as the source of this quote but the second story quotes "State Democrats", implying that all of them share Ms. Olivera's feelings. Either the second reporter is associating one person's opinion to the many or the state Democrats are make soundbites by fax machine again.
"Terroristic"? In a time when we have actually witnessed terrorism on our shores, I find that to be ill-used hyperbole. A Republican gloats and this is "terroristic"?
As one FR poster put it on Election Night: "Democrats - the party of drama queens."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.