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October 27, 2003 Doggett's
Campaign for New Seat Is Bad
Déjà Vu for Fellow Democrat Barrientos
By Mike Hailey
Capitol
Inside Editor
For State Senator Gonzalo Barrientos,
the news was like a bad déjà vu. His predecessor in
the Texas Senate had come out of the blue and hit the ground running
as a candidate for Congress, leaving Barrientos caught by surprise
in the lingering cloud of dust.
Caught in a squeeze-play by Republicans on the state's
new Congressional map, U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett's
wasted little time and told few that he was on the verge of launching
a bid for a sixth-term in the U.S. House. But there was a twist.
Doggett didn't announce for re-election to the Congressional District
10 seat. He dove into the race for a new seat that curls from Austin
to the Rio Grande Valley instead, joining State Rep. Kino
Flores of Mission in the battle for the Democratic nomination
in CD 25. .
And Barrientos isn't happy about that at all. When
Republicans created the new district as a consolation gift to Hispanics
to mitigate possible damages to minority voting rights, the veteran
Senate Democrat assumed that he was first in line as the Austin-area's
leading candidate for the race. Barrientos and others apparently
figured that a white candidate like Doggett wouldn't have much chance
in a new district where 69 percent of the voters are Hispanic. But
a quick read of the new map told Doggett he would have even less
of a chance to win in his current district, which had been stretched
across the coastal plans to Houston and inundated with Republicans.
So Doggett beat Barrientos to the punch - and valuable
time is slipping away as the senator tries to decide whether to
jump into the race against the man who represented Travis County
in the Legislature's upper chamber for a dozen years before handing
him the torch. Barrientos says he prefers to hold off on a final
decision to see if the new map survives a federal court challenge,
arguing that a campaign by a Democrat like Doggett or himself has
the effect of validating a map that's potentially illegal. He's
angry that Doggett has forced his hand - but what makes his really
upset is that he's been in the same situation before - and now it's
happening all over again now.
The current circumstances surrounding the two powerful
Austin Democrats are in many ways a replay of the last time Barrientos
felt burned by Doggett when an opening for Congress came up in the
Austin area. Barrientos had been in the Senate for almost 10 years
when longtime Congressman Jake Pickle was ready
to retire at the end of 1994. Doggett had been a member of the State
Supreme Court for five years - and he seemed happy wearing a black
robe to work - especially for someone who was known to carry tennis
shoes into the Senate chamber whenever he was threatening to filibuster.
Pickle called a press conference on a Friday afternoon
without telling the press in advance what the subject would be.
Travis County Democrats speculated that the veteran political warrior
would be making the announcement that everyone knew was coming -
that he would not seek re-election on the 1994 ballot. They were
right. He said he wasn't running.
From all indications, Barrientos thought he would
be the odds-on favorite in the race for Pickle's Central Texas Congressional
seat. He indicated the day of Pickle's press conference that he
was within a week or two of making an announcement on a race for
Pickle's seat. Everyone on the local political scene assumed that
Barrientos would enter the race and win it easily.
But on that same Friday, Doggett threw together a
phone bank - and by the following Monday he had a list of 300 key
names pledged to support him for Congress. Doggett was off to the
races. Barrientos was staggered - and his would-be bid for Congress
effectively ended that day.
The rest is history. Doggett crushed his Democratic
primary opponent then skated to a general election victory over
Republican Jo Baylor with 57 percent. Barrientos
settled for another term in the Senate, his only challenge that
year coming from a Libertarian candidate who he defeated soundly.
Ten years have passed but failed to heal all of the
wounds that still linger from the way the events surrounding the
Congressional race shook out in 1994. But Travis County insiders
say the friction from the past can't compare with the animosity
that's been generated between Austin's two most powerful elected
officials by the events of the past week.
Barrientos seems determined to not let it happen again
- but he also appears undecided on exactly what to do to stop it.
He might have put himself into a box of sorts last week when he
criticized Doggett's quick-hit announcement as jumping the gun on
the Democrats' legal challenge of the redistricting plan. By the
end of the week Barrientos allies were indicating in email that
he was the senator was definitely running and would announce this
week. Calls reportedly went out to inquire about who would be available
and interested in working for a Barrientos Congressional campaign.
But Barrientos kept his cards close to his chest when asked during
a State Democratic Executive Committee meeting whether he was running
and when he might announce. He repeated his desire to wait and see
how a federal court rules on the redistricting lawsuit before making
a final decision. Asked if waiting for a court ruling could threaten
his ability to make a serious race - with Doggett and Flores already
campaigning vigorously - Barrientos said only "if they want
to run on that piece of trash, that's their business."
The prevailing line of thinking seems to be that Barrientos
will have ruined his chances if he doesn't enter the race by the
end of this week. He doesn't have that much to lose if he runs because
he's not up for re-election to the Senate until 2006. If he doesn't
make the race, however, he may lose his last opportunity to go to
Congress.
Barrientos and Doggett draw their support from the
same political base. Travis County Democrats, as a result, are bracing
for a fight between two leaders who they have always strongly supported.
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