Max Powers

Vero Owes Norma A "Thank You"

Veronica Escobar owes Norma a big "Thank you!"

When Vero first ran for County Commissioner, you know who helped out Vero?

Norma. Chavez. 

Vero would not have beaten then-Commissioner Betti Flores if not for Norma Chavez.

That's right.

Chavez did more for Vero's career than Vero's blue falcon, Susie Byrd.  

Why do I bring this up?

Well, because if Norma created Escobar's political career, well, only Norma can end it. 

 

  

 

"It's the Lithium!"

When people talk about the Veronica Escobar Playboy article, they usually talk about the "welfare flavor" comment. 

But there is another comment of hers that is far more damning and insulting.  

It really gives you an idea of what she thinks of most El Pasoans.

The comment?

        Time to go to Stanton Street. John
Dillinger stayed at a hotel around the cor-
ner from the bars. The Briar Patch is mel-
low and inviting; the Tool Box, maybe not
so much. Susie Byrd, you might recall, is
on the city council and is the daughter of
Bobby. Her best friend, Veronica Escobar,
is a county commissioner. They blow into
the Briar Patch for a birthday party. Peo-
ple play pool in the main room, and out
in the patio area handsome young El Paso
businessmen and students from Juárez
sip beers with mixed couples. The young
man whose birthday we toast says, “We’re
a tolerant city. That’s the secret of El Paso.
It’s live and let live. The gay community
is strong here—look, we’re not going to
have big gay pride parades, all right? You
know why? This is El Paso! We don’t have
parades for anything.”
“It’s the lithium,” notes Commissioner
Escobar.

It's the lithium.

No one has asked her about this.  

What does she mean by that?

I have a hunch, but I think you would all rather hear it from the horse's mouth.

 

2012

The El Paso Times has a story today about early voting.

And it compares early voting from this year with early voting from 2014, a mid-year election, and 2016, a presidential year. 

But it really should be comparing it with 2012.

2012 was the last time El Paso had a heated Democratic primary for a congressional seat. 

In 2012, this is what went down when all was said and done:

 

There are some differences between 2012 and 2018.

First of all, it is an open seat.

Second, you have six candidates rather than five running. 

And of those six, three are women. 

But does that mean we will see higher turnout in this race than in 2012?

And if so, does it or does it not bode well for the frontrunner?

 

Nobody Gives a Shit About an El Paso County Judge

You want to know how irrelevant the position of the County Judge is?

It is so irrelevant that the El Paso Times editorial endorsed not one, but TWO candidates.  

Really.

The El Paso Times is trying to pimp Veronica Escobar on her experience as County Judge, but then goes to show how much they really think of the position by saying, "Yea, we don't care all that much.  Flip a coin and pick one of these two guys."

 

David Stout vs David Stout

Last September, Commissioner David Stout joint-authored a column with State Senator Jose Rodriguez and City Representative Alexandra Annello to stop the destruction of El Paso's history.

Who wants to destroy El Paso's history and why?

Per Stout, and those two other assholes:

"...a small group of wealthy individuals who own a sports team that plays at a taxpayer-funded venue went public with their plans to buy a marketing campaign in favor of putting an arena in historic Duranguito.

...

....with dismissive arrogance, this small group tries to minimize the opposition to historic demolition, and the support for good government.

...

...last-ditch effort of Downtown investors to make the public pay for their sports venue and destroy an irreplaceable piece of our community’s history."

Emphasis added of course.

But you get the point. 

So what gives now? 

Per El Paso's only major daily:

"Notable donations to the Stout campaign include $1,000 each from state Sen. José Rodríguez and businessman Woody Hunt..."

Again, emphasis added. 

I mean what gives.

I would love to have been a fly on the wall while Stout was hitting up Hunt for money.

"Oh, no, sir! I did not mean you were being arrogant or that you are trying to phuck the public over.  I just mean your son is being arrogant and trying to phuck the public over, but if you do not mind I really could use some cash."

You want to talk about a two-face motherphucker.  

A two-face motherphucker that you pay nearly $100,000 per year for, and paid $22,000 in travel expenses so he can go drink with Veronica in Austin, and brown-nose Jose.  

The good news though is that you have an opportunity to fire that two-face motherphucker. 

 

 

 

What is Richard Pineda?

While I worked for Norma Chavez, you know, the woman that is going to be your next congresswoman, I never heard about Richard Pineda.

Where did this guy come from?  

Really.

When did he all of sudden become the El Paso Times' go-to guy for all things local politics?

When asked by the Times for comment about the Mary vs. Mary race in the Lower Valley, Pineda had this little gem:

 "Money doesn't swing an election."

Hmmm.

So I now wanted to know more about this Pineda guy.  

Who is he?

Well, he is:

$68,088 plus benefits in El Paso ain't bad for the Associate Professor in Communication. 

But it even gets better when you know who he is married to:

Imagine that.

He makes $68,000 and his wife makes $122,400.  

On salary alone, not including benefits, the Pinedas are making nearly $200,000 a year.  

Ah, but I must correct myself.

Pineda's wife WAS making $122,400.  Apparently she is longer employed because she may or may not have been getting reimbursed for things that she should not have from her former employer.  

So for this guy to say what money can or cannot do is a bit rich.

In some instances, yes, money cannot swing election.  Like for example, you could be a Republican with $2 million, and still it would not be enough to win a congressional seat in El Paso.  

In other instances, damn straight money can swing an election.  If you are running against a not exactly popular incumbent in a Democratic primary in the Lower Valley and you need to establish some name ID, hey, KVIA is not exactly giving away ad space, the print shop is not exactly giving away mailers, nor is Whataburger ain't in-kinding you Number 1s to feed your campaign volunteers. 

If you are running office, and the choice is to have money or no money, yeah, you want the money.  

But not according to Pineda.  

Money  cannot swing an election, but apparently it can get you airfare and baby clothes.  

 

 

 

Mary vs Mary

So what is happening in the Lower Valley?

Will the gay-for-pay candidate, Mary Gonzalez, hold on to her seat?

Maybe. 

Let us take a look back Mary's previous primary run-ins since taking office:

 

2014

Mary Gonzalez                68.91

Rey Sepulveda                 31.09

2016

Mary Gonzalez               57.92

Chente Quintanilla       42.08   

 

If there is a trend, that trend does not look good for Mary.

Her 2014 opponent did not have much cash, and had his own baggage.

Her 2016 opponent did have cash, but had baggage.  

Her 2018 opponent? Her opponent has the cash and none of the baggage.  

Oh, and this time, her opponent is a woman.  

A woman that has a base strongly behind her.  

This is a shock to folks in Austin, but a lot of people in Mary's district frankly do not like her.  

As much as everyone in Austin wants to pin this Marisa Marquez, when all is said and down, it is Mary's own constituents, not Marisa, that vote against her.

But it is hard to get a good feel on the race given the district is both suburban and rural.  

And within "the rural" you have different communities that each have their own reasons to like and dislike Mary.

Again if the past is any indication of a trend, I would say this is a toss-up.

And it may come down to whether or not Mary's opponent can get her base and then some out to vote.