Free Republic

January 3 - January 10, 2011, Vol. 16, No. 16 When the 112th Congress is sworn in on January 5, there may be no better living, breathing reminder of just how big the 2010 Republican wave was than Rep. Blake Farenthold. Written off during the campaign as a longshot at best and a joke at worst, Farenthold ended up narrowly defeating Texas Democrat Solomon Ortiz, a 14-term incumbent who had typically won reelection by more than 20 points in a district that is now 71 percent Hispanic. “For me, this was the race that put the exclamation point on...

CORPUS CHRISTI — Gov. Rick Perry will certify results Thursday of the 27th Congressional District election recount. The complete results, released Monday by the Secretary of State’s office, showed U.S. Rep.-elect Blake Farenthold receiving 51,001 votes, 775 more votes than incumbent U.S. Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz. Election returns showed Farenthold beating Ortiz by 792 votes. Libertarian candidate Ed Mishou received 5,372 votes, according to the Secretary of State. The governor will certify, or canvass, the results at 12:15 p.m. Thursday in Austin, Secretary of State spokeswoman Jordy Keith said. Because the recount did not change the outcome of the race,...

WESLACO, Nov. 29 - U.S. Rep. Solomon Ortiz can depart Congress a hero to South Texas veterans by securing passage of legislation that would commit the VA to building a veterans’ hospital in the region. That’s the view of the American GI Forum of Texas, which has made the VA hospital issue one of its top legislative priorities. After 28 years in Congress, Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi, was defeated in the Nov. 2 general election by Republican Blake Farenthold, also of Corpus Christi. Ortiz leaves office in the New Year. “After a long and distinguished career in Congress, Representative Ortiz...

U.S. Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz’s petition for a recount of votes cast for the U.S. House of Representatives from District 27 has been denied. Texas Secretary of State Director of Elections Ann McGeehan said Ortiz' request was rejected because of specific defects in it. Ortiz has until Nov. 24 to amend the petition and submit a corrected one. McGeehan notified Ortiz in a letter dated today that he failed to include all precinct polls in District 27 in the requested recount and that his deposit of $11,500 was not sufficient and instead should be $23,500. Ortiz also failed to note...

CORPUS CHRISTI — Republican and Democratic Party officials are preparing for a recount in the 27th Congressional District that could take weeks and cost thousands of dollars. U.S. Rep. Solomon Ortiz on Monday asked supporters for $13,000 for the recount. He said in an e-mailed statement to supporters the money must be raised by midnight. Meanwhile, Republicans worried the recount could hamper U.S. Rep.-elect Blake Farenthold’s transition into office. Following last week’s election, the Democratic congressman trailed Farenthold by 799 votes. The lead was reduced to 792 after a bag was discovered containing seven uncounted ballots, all in favor of...

CORPUS CHRISTI — Blake Farenthold, the 27th District congressman-elect, and his staff focused Wednesday on his transition into office despite not receiving a concession from incumbent U.S. Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz. Ortiz, a Democrat, on Tuesday lost the seat he held for 28 years by 799 votes. Ortiz said Wednesday a recount of Tuesday’s 27th Congressional District election votes may be needed after his legal team completes a review of the results. “I thank all the people who supported me with their vote in Tuesday’s general election,” Ortiz said Wednesday in a written statement. “The process of reviewing the...

CORPUS CHRISTI — The three candidates for the 27th District Congressional District sparred on health care, money earmarked for projects in the district and border security in their first face-to-face meeting Tuesday. Republican candidate Blake Farenthold and Libertarian candidate Ed Mishou said during a live debate on KIII-TV they want to revamp the health care bill passed in the last congressional session. “There are tons of hidden, problem areas in health care reform,” Mishou said. “What we got was government controlled.” He said that changes to the bill should be done in small increments rather than trying to scrap...

The longtime Corpus Christi Democratic congressman and political boss is facing a stiff challenge from Republican Blake Farenthold. He is the step-grandson of Sissy Farenthold, the onetime leader of the Dirty Thirty in the Texas House of Representatives during the 1971 Sharpstown Scandal, who finished second (to Dolph Briscoe) in the 1972 Democratic gubernatorial primary, knocking Ben Barnes out of the race and ending his promising political career. Now another Farenthold is positioned to knock off Ortiz. Word on the street in Corpus Christi is that Farenthold has an 8 point lead in the district, which runs south along the...

CORPUS CHRISTI — Republican Blake Farenthold beat James Duerr by 244 votes in Tuesday's U.S. House District 27 congressional runoff. Farenthold took 4,738 votes or 51.3 percent in the district, which includes Nueces, Kleberg, Kenedy, Willacy and portions of San Patricio and Cameron counties. Duerr gained 4,494 votes or 48.7 percent. The race that boasted the highest Republican turnout in a runoff in Nueces County history. Farenthold, 48, will challenge longtime Democrat incumbent U.S. Rep. Solomon Ortiz, 72, in the November general election. "This wasn't a fight," Farenthold said. "This was a skirmish. The real battle is in November versus...

Corpus Christi, TX – Jessica-Puente Bradshaw, Republican Congressional candidate in the 27th district of Texas, made the following statement on Scott Brown’s historic victory to the United States Senate. “People all across the country are tired of watching their personal liberties and freedoms decrease, while the size of the federal government increases. Scott Brown’s victory tonight is the beginning of the new Republican Revolution in 2010.” Jessica Puente-Bradshaw is committed to returning the nation to the principles the founding fathers incorporated in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. A kindred spirit to Senator-elect Brown, Bradshaw is dedicated to reclaiming...

CORPUS CHRISTI — A couple who provided U.S. Rep. Solomon Ortiz with free trips to China was sentenced Friday in Houston for their role in a complex visa fraud scheme unrelated to the trips with Ortiz. Kenneth and Ping Lee Cohen pleaded guilty in the case in 2006. They owned a company called Asia Access, which charged as much as $60,000 to Chinese immigrants attempting to obtain green cards. The company used fake documents from real companies in which Chinese nationals claimed they would be working as executives in American subsidiaries of Chinese companies, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office...

Ortiz draws line in sand over Neal's appointment U.S. Representative threatens to remove $3M in Ingleside CORPUS CHRISTI — U.S. Rep. Solomon Ortiz says he’ll take back $3 million in funds meant to offset Ingleside base closure if the Ingleside City Council confirms Nueces County Judge Loyd Neal to the board that oversees base redevelopment. Ortiz’s office announced Thursday that the U.S. House Armed Services Committee authorized $550.4 billion that includes a $3 million earmark for the Ingleside Local Redevelopment Authority. The earmark’s purpose is to help mitigate the job losses from closure next year of Naval Station Ingleside. The...

CORPUS CHRISTI — Area residents will have the opportunity to ask questions and voice concerns about plans to revamp health care during a telephone town hall meeting next month. U.S. Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Robstown, whose office has gotten thousands of calls from constituents, will discuss health care proposals under consideration in Congress during the Sept. 2 phone conference. Constituents can call the congressman’s Corpus Christi, Brownsville and Washington D.C. offices to register, Ortiz spokesman Jose Borjon said. Corpus Christi resident Janet Homan plans to be among the first to register for Ortiz’s meeting. Homan, a 56-year-old elementary school teacher, had...

WASHINGTON — Born into South Texas poverty as the son of migrant workers, a man who rose from shoeshine boy to sheriff to congressman is the face of the immigration reform bill set to slog its way through the House of Representatives this year. That's by design. Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi, a 27-year veteran of legislative battles, isn't the only Democrat who concedes the road for immigration reform is steeply uphill in a midterm election year. But the bill's backers are counting on the Robstown native to draw on his life experience to argue that immigration reform is needed...

Congressman was unaware of their crimes, his aide says U.S. Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz accepted free trips to China from a Houston-based husband-and-wife business team convicted recently in an illegal immigration scheme involving Chinese nationals. Ortiz spokeswoman Cathy Travis couldn't reach him Monday, but said she is sure he was unaware of the crimes committed by Kenneth and Ping Lee Cohen, of Houston. The Cohens pleaded guilty in February to conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government and are awaiting sentencing. These trips are among the 46 paid by organizations for Ortiz and his staff between 2000 and August 2005, according...

TEXAS ELECTION CENTRAL If we are going to make a difference in the upcoming election, we need to KNOW the candidates. Please post the names of ALL your Congressional candidates on this thread along with any and all information available. We need names, positions, platforms, news articles, statements, pictures. We need to separate the RINOS from the Conservatives, and most of all, we need to get the liberals of either party OUT!We can do this if you help. I have started this thread. All you have to do is contribute a little time and a little research. Help us...

Over the course of our lifetimes thought past and present, as Americans of all colors or creeds, immigrant or natural born, we have fought hard to make this country the great nation that it is. Regardless of our situation at our present time, we are obligated as citizens to do our part in carrying forth the torch of liberty, justice, compassion and hard work. How do we maintain and grow those fundamental freedoms? We do it by participating and becoming active citizens and advocates of the message the Founding Fathers first penned in the Declaration of Independence. “…to secure these...

Jessica Puente-Bradshaw for Congress Needs Your Help! Jessica is an educator, mother of two, wife, and churchgoer. She is running for Texas Congressional district 27 because she is fed-up with the size of government increasing while personal liberities decrease. In order to beat the longtime Democrat incumbent from South Texas, she must first win the primary. She is the ONLY person who has a real chance to win this seat in the general election. Please visit ww.texansforjessica.com today and help us take America back! (Excerpt from her website) Like you, I am going to bed every night disappointed at the...

Yesterday we reported on a Libya reception at the Willard Hotel Wednesday, and wondered who from the U.S. government might dare show up in the wake of the Al-Megrahi controversy. POLITICO's Ken Vogel poked around, and discovered that not everybody in the U.S. government wants to pile on Libya. Here's his report: Not for Rep. Solomon Ortiz (D-Texas) the Libya-bashing that followed Scotland’s release of Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, the terrorist convicted of the Lockerbie bombing, and the hero’s welcome he received when he returned to Libya.