ustxtxb_obs_1988_04_08_50_00012-00000_000.pdf

the money comes so that the public can reflect upon its propriety in the electoral process. Capping contributions from a single and creating public financing \(maybe system are all good ideas. Maybe “blind” donations through the State Bar is worthy of thought, although that removes the process somewhat from the public eye. Certainly, a system of single-member districts and fixed terms would require less campaign funding. I propose that we continue election of judges. making the changes described above. The elections should be partisan, too. Being a Democrat or Republican still makes a difference in Texas. It may not predict how a judge will decide a case, but it often indicates the judge’s overall philosophy. Electing judges provides the people with direct partnership in the Constitutional process. Not only does it enable us to give guidance to judges and approve or digapprove their activism, a dynamism lacking in the federal system, but, in this way, every six years judges must climb down from their law books and mingle with us. That is the only way to add “flesh and blood” to the cases which they decide. Judges who decide a case about farmworkers, for example, might remember the calloused hands they shook during the campaign, how proud those workers were, how the eyes of their children looked, and how they did their job clipping onions in the hot Texas sun. Judges who do not recall and profit from such experiences do not deserve to be judges. POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE V HAUL MARTINEZ, the 64-year-old former Harris County constable challenging Houston Rep. Al Luna, further lowered the level of discourse in an already nasty runoff campaign in southeast Houston. Martinez, the candidate of a political machine associated with Houston City Councilman Ben Reyes, said that many in, the community suspect that Luna is a drug user and that Luna take a drug test to prove that he is drug free. “I’m ready to go to Austin as a drug-free legislator,” Martinez said. Marc Campos, a Luna spokesman, responded in kind suggesting that Martinez is an alcoholic. The situation became even more bizarre when a precinct judge suggested that both candidates “set a good example for students watching the race and take polygraph and drug tests to convey to students “that taking drug and lie-detector tests is a good thing.” No one has yet suggested IQ tests. V LUNA ALSO finds himself running against two candidates he defeated in the primary. Both Adrian McGowan and Michael Yarbrough, two black candidates who together drew about 30 percent of the vote in the primary election, have announced their support for Martinez. Martinez also might have received an indirect endorsement from Houston Congressman Mickey Leland who endorsed John Castillo in a down-ballot constable’s runoff in the same district. Martinez was retiring from the position as constable with the understanding that he would be replaced by John Castillo, a deputy in the constable’s office. When Luna supported another candidate for constable in the primary. John Trevino who now faces Castillo in a runoff, Martinez announced that he would enter the race and filed against Luna. Many perceive that Martinez is a grudge candidate, selected by city councilman Ben Reyes when Luna failed to support the right candidate for constable. Reyes and Leland served together in the Texas Legislature. V SOUTH TEXAS Rep. Renato Cue liar, who was forced into a Democratic primary runoff by former San Juan mayor and Mexican American Democrat president Juan Maldonado, finds himself running against the same slate of statewide elected officials who helped nudge Maldonado into a runoff. Attorney General Jim Mattox, Comptroller Bob Bullock, and Railroad Commissioner John Sharp, who all endorsed and supported Maldonado in the primary, have continued to campaign on his behalf in the runoff. Maldonado, a trial lawyers’ candidate and insurance agent, got past the primary where Cuellar won 41 percent of the vote. The participation of three statewides in a local election has McAllen State Rep. Juan Hinojosa crying foul. Hinojosa wrote to Sharp, Bullock and Mattox and took them to task for their involvement in a local Democratic race. Hinojosa also wrote that it would be difficult for the Mexican American Caucus to work with elected officials who throw their weight behind a candidate challenging an incumbent caucus member in a primary. Cuellar, the owner of a convenience store in Weslaco, is running for his second term. V REPUBLICANS in the Panhandle are asking “Who is Wes Gilbreath?” Gilbreath, a Houston businessman, underwrote much of his own campaign to lead with 37 percent of the vote in the Republican primary race to select a candidate to go up against Texas Senator Lloyd Bentsen in November. Gilbreath spent more than $500,000 on bulletin boards and TV spots to beat out Boulter, who was favored to win. Milton Fox and Ned Snead, both unsuccessful candidates in the race, have endorsed Boulter, a Congressman from Amarillo. But some Republicans remember that Gov. Bill Clements got his start in statewide campaigning, spending his own money when he ran for governor in 1976. V AMONG THE OTHER notable races in the April 12 runoff election is a contest for the Democratic nomination to run for Congress in the Houston-area 22nd District. Richard Konrad, a college philosophy professor, will face Wayne Walker, a Fresno lawyer. Konrad had run hard in the primary and appeared to have more visibility than Walker, but only garnered 30 percent of the vote, compared to Walker’s 42 percent. The winner will face incumbent Congressman Tom DeLay in the general election. Amarillo state Senator Bill Sarpalius will try to move on to Congress. He won the District 13 Democratic primary with 55 percent of the vote and thus has no runoff challenger. He will face either Bob Price of Pampa or Larry Milner of Amarillo, who are in a Republican run-off. Some Panhandle progressives, discouraged that conservative Democrat Sarpalius has emerged as the nominee, are said to be considering a vote thinking that Price might actually be less objectionable than Sarpalius on the issues. In the state Senate race to replace Sarpalius, former district judge Bryan Poff will face real estate developer Mel Phillips. Phillips led in the primary with 40 percent to Poff’s 32 percent. Attorney Nancy Lou Garms, with 28 percent, was eliminated from the race. The winner will face Republican Teel Bivens, the favorite of Amarillo oil man T. Boone Pickens. Here are the run-off contenders in Democratic races for seats in the state House of Representatives \(followed by their perV AUSTIN American-Statesman political writer Dave McNeely has had enough. 12 APRIL 8, 1988