May 13, 2005

Ex-Moreno Aide Gets Key Support Early
for Possible Special Election Campaign

By Mike Hailey
Capitol Inside Editor

Key players in an east Houston political coalition are rallying behind a former member of the late State Rep. Joe Moreno's staff as a possible replacement for him as the field of candidates for a special election begins to take shape in the wake of his death last week.

Houston lawyer Ana Hernandez, who worked as an aide to both Moreno and State Rep. Jessica Farrar at the Texas Capitol, has early support from Farrar and others within a network of local Democratic leaders and activists who could have considerable sway in a special election campaign for the open House District 143 seat.

Several other Democrats are reportedly weighing possible bids for the seat that became vacant when Moreno was killed in a highway crash on the way back to Austin from a professional basketball playoff game in Houston. The list of possible contenders includes Giovanni Garibay, the chief of staff to City councilman Adrian Garcia and a former aide to ex-Mayor Lee Brown and former Congressman Chris Bell. Garibay - a former University of Houston student body president - worked for the national Democratic ticket in Iowa last year. While Garibay would be considered a formidable candidate, there are questions about whether he's lived in the district long enough to meet the residency requirements.

James Rodriguez, an aide to Houston Council member Carol Alvarado, is also being mentioned as a possible candidate for the HD 143 seat. But there's speculation that Garibay, Rodriguez and others might be inclined to step aside in deference to Hernandez if the local political community's leaders unite behind her. There's speculation that Governor Rick Perry will set the special election for HD 143 in early November.

Farrar's support in a special election race will be critical because she was Moreno's closest political ally and one of his best friends. Moreno and Farrar had become very close friends over the years as products of a coalition led by ex-Houston City Council member Ben Reyes. Moreno was Farrar's campaign manager and chief of staff before joining her in the House four years after her initial election to the lower chamber in 1994. Moreno and Farrar both worked for Reyes, who's serving time in federal prison for a bribery conviction that stemmed from an FBI sting investigation in the late 1990s. Farrar's district is next door to HD 143 in the area of the city near the Houston Ship Channel.

Hernandez - an attorney for ConocoPhillips - lives in HD 143 and knows all the key players. She reportedly met this week with Frumencio Reyes, the leader of the Harris County Tejano Democrats' organization, and will likely have the support of his group as well.

Moreno won the HD 143 seat in 1998 after the incumbent, Gerald Torres, resigned to take a job in the private sector. Torres had been unopposed in the Democratic primary that year - and a group of local precinct judges chose Moreno to replace Torres on the November ballot. Moreno faced Democrat Dorothy Olmos in the primaries in all three re-election campaigns, but his toughest competition came from Al Flores who forced him into a primary runoff that Moreno won with 60 percent of the vote in 2002. The district - one of the poorest in the Houston area - is a Democratic stronghold where elections are typically decided with the primary vote.

There's speculation that a niece of former State Rep. Diana Davila also might explore a special election race for HD 143. Davila represented HD 145 for six years in the House in the 1990s. State Rep. Rick Noriega holds that seat now, although his wife Melissa Noriega is taking his place in the Legislature during the session while he's away after being called up for active duty with the Army Reserves in Afghanistan. The Noriegas' district borders HD 143 on the west.

Moreno was driving his pickup truck northwest of La Grange when it flipped several times after he lost control of the vehicle. State Rep. Rafael Anchia of Dallas was riding in the passenger seat but escaped injury and has been back at work in the House this week. Monica Pinon, the chief of staff to State Rep. Joe Pickett, was sleeping in the back seat before the crash. She has underdone surgery on her ankle and hand since the accident.

An autopsy report released Thursday showed that Moreno was sober with no drugs or alcohol in his system at the time of his death. The 40-year-old lawmaker was buried Tuesday at the State Cemetery in east Austin.