Will Ciro Be Back?
Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post blogs on the winners and losers as a result of yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling on Tom DeLay’s Texas redistricting:
WINNERS
Former Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (D): Rodriguez’s political career, which seemed all but over following his primary loss earlier this year to Rep. Henry Cuellar (D), has new life. Assuming the courts remove Webb County out of Cuellar’s 28th district and consolidate the seat around San Antonio (as it was prior to the re-redistricting) Rodriguez would be the odds-on nominee in the new seat.
…
LOSERS
Rep. Henry Bonilla (R): No matter how you slice it, Bonilla’s 23rd district will get more Democratic as a result of this ruling. Bonilla has faced serious races before — in 2002 he beat now Rep. Henry Cuellar by just 6,000 votes — but the remapping removed the most Democratic sections of Webb County (Laredo) out of the district and he won with 69 percent in 2004. This cycle has been especially cruel to Bonilla as he was seen as the frontrunner should Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R) have decided to challenge Gov. Rick Perry (R). Hutchison backed out, leaving Bonilla high and dry. Now, he may have to a serious fight to keep his congressional seat.
Rep. Henry Cuellar (D): The most likely solution to the Court’s problem with Bonilla’s district is to move Webb County back into the 23rd. Cuellar, who lives in Laredo, would then be forced to decide whether to run against Bonilla for a second time or run in a district centered around San Antonio that has none of his natural Laredo base. Some Democrats will be gleeful should this come to pass as they never forgave Cuellar for challenging Rep. Ciro Rodriguez in the 2004 Democratic primary.
P.S. Charles Kuffner, as usual, has the most comprehensive look at the political ramifications within Texas of the decision.
August 30th, 2006 at 7:39 am
ciro is done…uresti has the best chance