Due to his nickname, the fact that he was a city councilman in overwhelmingly Mexican-American El Paso and the fact that he was running in the Dem primary in a 78% (or so) Hispanic congressional district (whose Dem primary electorate is probably over 75% Hispanic), I had assumed that Robert “Beto” O’Rourke was Hispanic despite his Anglo name. But apparently he’s Irish-American on both sides. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beto_O%27Rourke#section_4
This could give Republican Barbara Carrasco a small opening in the general election in a district with a heavy Dem lean but that gave George W. Bush around 50% in his 1998 gubernatorial reelection and like 43% in his 2004 presidential reelection. She’ll be the only Hispanic on the ballot, and could steal some Democrat votes. Plus, Hispanic Democrat politicians in El Paso who wish to get elected to Congress some day know that if O’Rourke gets elected he’ll be very difficult to dislodge, but Carrasco could be defeated in 2014 by a united Democrat front.
I do think that Republicans have a small opening here, and it’s not only the ethnic composition of the candidates. O’Rourke won a very nasty primary and I don’t think that Reyes has endorsed him. Also, O’Rourke has plenty of personal baggage.