FEATURED: Sen. Morgan LaMantia, D-South Padre Island, and Adam Hinojosa, R-Corpus Christi, have both filed for their respective political party’s nomination to represent Senate District 27, which features all or portions of Bee, Cameron, Hidalgo, Kenedy, Kleberg, Nueces, and Willacy counties. The party primaries in Texas will be held on Tuesday, March 5, 2024. The nominees – which will likely include candidates from the Green and Libertarian parties – will face off in the Tuesday, November 4, 2024 general election.
Photograph Courtesy FACEBOOK
••••••
Democrat Morgan LaMantia and Republican Adam Hinojosa each file for a possible rematch in November 2024 election for Senate District 27
By DAVID A. DÍAZ
[email protected]
With only a few weeks to go before the filing deadline for the upcoming March 2024 political party primaries, Sen. Morgan LaMantia, D-South Padre Island, and Adam Hinojosa, R-Corpus Christi, have already submitted the needed paperwork that could result in a rematch of their November 2022 battle, which LaMantia won by the slightest of margins.
The Texas Secretary of State’s Office reported a total of 175,415 votes cast in Senate District 27 with LaMantia receiving 88,037 votes, or 50.19 percent, to Hinojosa’s 87,378 votes for 49.81 percent.
Both leaders are seeking election to serve for a four-year term as the senator for Senate District 27, which features 100 percent of Cameron County, 100 percent of Bee County, 100 percent of Kenedy County, 100 percent of Kleburg County, 100 percent of San Patricio County, 100 percent of Willacy County, 32 percent of Hidalgo County, and 19 percent of Nueces County.
https://wrm.capitol.texas.gov/fyiwebdocs/PDF/senate/dist27/r6.pdf
According to the Texas Secretary of State’s Office, the first day for candidates to file for the Tuesday, March 5, 2024 primary election was Saturday, November 11, 2023.
The last day to file for the Tuesday, March 5, 2024 primary election is Monday, December 11, 2023 at 6 p.m.
The winners of their respective political party primaries – they are held on the same day – will face off in the general election, which is set for Tuesday, November 4, 2024.
As of December 2021, Texas officially recognized four political parties.
They are the Democratic, Green, Libertarian, and Republican parties.
Hinojosa, who calls himself a “conservative businessman”, believes he and LaMantia will be their respective political party’s nominee, predicting so in the headline of his news release dated Tuesday, November 14, 2023, which stated “Adam Hinojosa announces election rematch against LaMantia”.
“After receiving hundreds of encouraging calls from across our district and much thoughtful prayer and consideration with my family, we are back in the fight for our conservative South Texas values,” said Hinojosa. “We are the party of safety, opportunity, and family values – and we need a state senator in South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley who will turn those shared values into real policy here at home.”
LaMantia, an attorney by profession, has one 140-day regular session and four 30-day special sessions under her belt in 2023, her first year as a state lawmaker.
“We are proud of the significant progress we have made, and we are mindful there is still work to do to reach long-term, comprehensive solutions,” LaMantia reported two days later, on Thursday, November 16, 2023. “I am running for reelection with the commitment and hope to continue what we started for the betterment of South Texas and the Coastal Bend.”
LaMantia is up for reelection in 2024 as a result of a lottery involving all 31 members of the Senate that took place on Wednesday, January 11, 2023 at the Texas Capitol.
As a required by the Texas Constitution, every 10 years, all senators must draw a lot to determine if they will have a two-year term or a four-year term.
“The practice is outlined in Article 4, Section 3, of the Texas Constitution, which calls for ‘Senators elected after each apportionment (redistricting)’ to be divided into two classes: one that will serve a four-year terms and the other to serve a two-year term. That keeps the Senate district elections staggered every two years. After that, senators served four-year terms for the rest of the decade,” James Barragán reported for The Texas Tribune.
Redistricting is the process by which the geographical divisions of the state into congressional, state representative, state senator, and State Board of Education electoral districts are periodically revised. District boundaries are redrawn every 10 years following the publication of the U.S. Census to maintain approximately equal populations across all electoral districts in the state.
https://www.texastribune.org/2023/01/11/texas-senate-2023-terms/
Gov. Abbott, former President Trump serve Thanksgiving meals in Edinburg to governor’s Operation Lone Star participants
Gov. Greg Abbott and the 45th President of the United States Donald J. Trump on Sunday, November 17, 2023 thanked and served meals to more than 240 Texas National Guard soldiers, Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) troopers, and other service members stationed on the border over Thanksgiving for Operation Lone Star (OLS) in Edinburg.
“Texas is forever grateful for our brave service members who work day and night to protect and defend our state and our nation,” said Abbott. “I am proud to be with President Trump here today to thank the thousands of Texas National Guard soldiers and DPS troopers who are stationed along the border for Operation Lone Star…This Thanksgiving as they are away from their families and loved ones, may we remember the sacrifices these brave men and women in uniform make every day to ensure the safety and security of all Texans and Americans.”
Abbott and Trump were joined by Col. Steve McCraw, Director, Texas Department of Public Safety; Major General Thomas Suelzer, Adjutant General, Texas National Guard; Nim Kidd, Chief, Texas Division of Emergency Management; Richard L. Jankovsky, President, DPS Officers Association; and Brandon Judd, President, National Border Patrol Council.
The governor and the former president thanked OLS service members for their tireless work and around-the-clock efforts to secure the border and keep Texans — and Americans — safe, Abbott reported.
Prior to serving meals with Trump, Abbott received a briefing on OLS vehicles and border security assets Texas deployed to stem the flood of illegal immigration, deadly drugs like fentanyl, and dangerous weapons pouring into Texas from Mexico.
According to Wikipedia:
Operation Lone Star (OLS) is a joint operation between the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Military Department along the southern border between Texas and Mexico.
Abbott has explained the operation is intended to counter illegal immigration, the illegal drug trade, and human smuggling. As of April 2022, OLS was spending approximately $2.5 million per week and was expected to cost approximately $2 billion per year.
Approximately 10,000 National Guard members were deployed in support of OLS at the height of the operation, with around 6,000 deployed as of November 2022. According to the governor’s office, OLS has resulted in 394,200 migrant apprehensions, 31,300 criminal arrests (including 29,100 felony charges), and 422 million doses of fentanyl seized.
OLS has drawn criticism from the federal government, state officials, and migrant advocates for its treatment of migrants, including the withholding of water and orders to push migrants back into the Rio Grande River.
Migrants have also been forced to cross unsafe areas of the Rio Grande River due to razor wire set up by OLS, which has led to injuries and has caused migrants to become stuck in the wire.
Texas Air National Guard members deployed in support of OLS have also criticized the operation’s planning and execution, with nearly 30 percent of 250 participants in a 2022 Air National Guard survey reporting frustration with the operation’s length, haste, and involuntary nature.
••••••
For more on this and other Texas legislative news stories that affect the Rio Grande Valley metropolitan region, please log on to Titans of the Texas Legislature (TitansoftheTexasLegislature.com).
