I know some have speculated that County Judge Veronica Escobar would like a new job.
And I would agree with that...to an extent.
There really isn't anything "sexy" about being a County Judge.
Some have speculated that Veronica would like to be mayor.
Being a so-called big city mayor certainly can raise your political profile, and we all know that Veronica loves doing that. From penning op-ed pieces in the New York Times to commenting via Twitter about events in Syria, Veronica wants everyone to know she has an opinion on everything.
But I am skeptical that she would actually run for mayor.
First of all, she would have take a big pay cut to be mayor. I cannot imagine a person who voted themself a pay raise - which Veronica did - would actually want to reduce his or her salary by half to carry all the real and imagined responsbilities of being mayor.
Secondly, no eunuchs. Next year, Escobar will have a safe majority with her two eunuchs on Commisssoners Court - David Stout and Vince Perez - rubber -stamping any of her proposals. City Hall - with or without a City Manager - will be much more of a crap shoot for Escobar.
And about that crap shoot, there's a reason for that. City Council elections are non-partisan. Veronica cannot solely depend on her Democratic primary base to get her into office, let alone any of her would-be allies.
Oh, there is also the whole thing about money. Veronica is not exactly what you call a prolific fundraiser or independently wealthy.
So if not, mayor...what about State Senator?
Maybe.
But there are few issues there as well.
One issue is Jose Rodriguez. Veronica will have wait to until Jose leaves. She will not challenge Rodriguez, and it is not likely Jose will be leaving office anytime soon. For starters, that guy wants to get vested so he can collect a state pension. But perhaps just as important, Rodriguez loves glad-handling and carrying no responsibility. As a member of the minority party in the upper chamber of a state legislature, there's really nothing else to do but to glad-handle.
There kinda lies the rub for Veronica. She would go insane being a legislator after being an executive. When she shows up to work right now, everyone knows she is boss. She becomes State Senator, she will be one of 181 legislators all pushing an agenda that someone else can veto.
Oh, and there is that whole pay cut business. If you think the Mayor's pay sucks, wait until you get a load of a state legislator's pay.
So yea.
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