Crossposted at My Left Wing
Although the celebrations are over, the 2006 midterms are not yet finished. 10 races are still undecided, and 2 races will have December runoffs. One of these races is in Louisiana’s 2nd District, which covers most of Orleans Parish and portions of Jefferson Parish. Blue Majority, or DKos, SSP and MyDD, are presently collecting donations for Karen Carter, a Democrat who is challenging Dollar Bill Jefferson for this seat. I support their effort, and I am glad the netroots are finally involved in Louisiana politics. But there is another December runoff that desperately needs our attention. This runoff is in Texas 23, the seat presently held by Republican Henry Bonilla.
The 23rd District of Texas last summer was redrawn after the Supreme Court found its 2004 boundaries unconstitutional. A violation of the Voting Rights Act, the 23rd District disenfranchised at least 100,000 Latino voters, as they were gerrymandered into neighboring districts with overwhelming Latino majorities. Here are the lines of Texas 23 after DeLay’s gerrymander:
And here are the lines after the Texas Supreme Court redrew the district this summer:
Pay particular attention to the inclusion of southern Bexar County, or San Antonio’s South Side, in the newly drawn Texas 23. San Antonio’s South Side is the base of Ciro Rodriguez, a progressive Democrat who lost his seat in 2004 to Henry Cuellar as a result of DeLay’s gerrymander.
This inclusion of Rodriguez’s base in the newly drawn 23rd has changed the electoral dynamics of this district. Here are the results of the open primary for this district on 7 November:
Texas 23
Bonilla (R – Incumbent)
60,147 48%
Rodriguez (D)
24,593 20%
Uresti (D)
14,529 12%
Gilliland (D)
13,725 11%
Stephens (I)
3,344 3%
Beltran (D)
2,650 2%
Bolanos (D)
2,563 2%
DeLeon (D)
2,198 2%
Democrats collectively netted 60,258 votes, or 48.69% of the 123,749 votes cast in this district. Bonilla, the five term Republican incumbent, only garnered 60,147 votes, or 48.60% of the vote. Because Bonilla failed to obtain a majority, or 50%+1, he and Rodriguez must face one another in a runoff.
Democrats can win this district. In fact, this district is very similar to the 19th district of the Texas Senate. Presently held by Carlos Uresti, the brother of Albert Uresti, who ran in the open primary against Bonilla, the nineteenth district of the Texas Senate is presently held by a Democrat.
I have much more data on the district’s counties and the voting patterns of the voters of this district. But I want everyone to consider funding Ciro Rodriguez. Perhaps we can create a coordinated online effort to support Rodriguez. At least visit his website and view the poignant commercial he ran in the district during the open primary.
How can we support Rodriguez? Perhaps we can write the DCCC at dccc@dccc.org. They do have a profile of Rodriguez on the website, and they do mention the runoff, whose date is yet to be determined. But will they fund Rodriguez? And will the netroots fund a reliable progressive from Texas?
Join me, and let us create a coordinated online effort to elect Ciro Rodriguez.