April 07, 2004
Rodriguez/Cuellar update

Rep. Ciro Rodriguez is still talking about filing a lawsuit to overturn the recounted results in the CD 28 Democratic primary, though he hasn't actually filed yet. He is lining up support for his effort, though.


Tuesday, Rodriguez was joined by several elected officials and supporters, including City Councilmen Enrique Barrera and Richard Perez, former state Sen. Joe Bernal and fellow congressman Charlie Gonzalez, who impugned the latest election results that give Cuellar a 203-vote lead in the race.

"This is an incredible result. This is beyond belief. There is something wrong," said Gonzalez, whose own re-election effort could be challenged by his former wife, Becky Whetstone. She is considering a run for the 20th Congressional District as an independent candidate.


This AP story has more from Rodriguez' latest salvo.

[O]n Tuesday he ratcheted up his rhetoric by producing a chart that directly compared last week's ballot recount to the so-called "Box 13" skullduggery in South Texas that some claim stole the 1948 U.S. Senate election for Lyndon B. Johnson.

But Rodriguez stops short of claiming that it was outright vote fraud in Webb and Zapata counties that allowed his opponent, Laredo lawyer Henry Cuellar, to take a 203-vote lead in last week's districtwide recount.

"I'll leave that to my attorneys," Rodriguez said after a news conference Tuesday in his hometown of San Antonio.

"But what was found in Zapata and Webb counties is similar to what they found in Box 13 -- magical, mysterious votes that were just enough to put (Cuellar) over the top," he said.


Given my usual prescience in predicting the outcome of the recount, I offer no guesses as to how the lawsuit will play out. I just hope that whoever does win is able to do so in a manner that doesn't leave him fatally weakened in the general election where, you may recall, there will be a Republican opponent. Have your days in court, fellas, but in the end - eyes on the prize, OK?

Posted by Charles Kuffner on April 07, 2004 to Election 2004 | TrackBack
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