Luis Villarreal Jr. endorsed the new boundary lines for Texas House District 37 while Ruben Cortez Jr. pointed to a pending lawsuit against the district’s new configuration during a recent Futuro RGV forum held via Facebook Live conferencing.
Cortez and Villarreal are seeking the Democratic nomination for the seat along with Harlingen City Commissioner Frank Puente Jr., who was out of town on a roofing job and did not attend the forum.
The forum can be viewed in its entirety through the March 1 primary at FuturoRGV.org and on the organization’s Facebook page Facebook.com/FuturoRGV.org
The current House District 37 includes all of Brownsville and is represented by State Rep. Alex Dominguez, D-Brownsville. The new district, approved at the last minute by a two-vote margin during redistricting, is anchored in Harlingen and includes all of that city plus Willacy County. Former State Rep. Eddie Lucio III, D-Brownsville, represented House District 38 but resigned effective at the end of January. That district covered the southwestern portion of Cameron County including about half of Harlingen.
Dominguez did not run for re-election in the new District 37, instead running for the Texas Senator District 27 seat held by state Senator Eddie Lucio Jr., who is retiring.
The redistricting marks a determination by the state Republican Party to try to pick up seats in the mostly Hispanic and dependably Democratic Rio Grande Valley after President Joe Biden underperformed in the area in the 2020 election. According to reporting by the Texas Tribune, Biden would have carried the new district by only 2 percentage points. The estimated share of voters in the district who are Hispanic would decline from 86% to 78% under the new configuration.
During the forum, Moderator Steve Taylor of the Rio Grande Guardian asked the candidates why they were running as Democrats.
Villarreal said that he worked under Sen. Lucio, a Democrat, for six years as director of administration and understands the issues facing the district.
“Second of all, I believe that Democrats have a heart. … I believe that when it comes to actually taking care of the people the Democratic Party has done that. They have increased funding for healthcare, and worked hard to make sure individuals in the foster system and medical system are taken care of. And I believe that society needs to take care of the weak and the unheard, people that don’t have a voice … that’s why we’re here, to make sure everyone gets a fair opportunity.”
Cortez said he is a lifelong Democrat.
“I think we need to make sure that we support voting rights, that we support providing healthcare opportunities for everyone. We need to support women’s access. We need to support all these different things that make our communities unique, all these things that we keep getting disenfranchised from,” Cortez said.
He then referred to the 11th hour amendment from state Rep J.M. Lozano, R-Kingsville, to make the new District 37 more competitive by drawing territory from House Districts 35 and 38, making those districts considerably more blue and resulting in a District 37 with more registered Republicans.
Cortez said the move violates the Texas Constitution’s one-county rule. “That’s why I stepped up and filed a lawsuit against the state of Texas on that very issue along with my friends the Tejano Democrats because I believe representation should be chosen by people, not by bureaucrats in Austin when it comes to fighting for what’s right. That’s why I’m a Democrat,” he said.
Taylor then asked the candidates whether they favored the new configuration and what they had learned about the district while campaigning.
“Yes,” Villarreal answered quickly. “This is the district I decided to run for, not a district that is lopsided for a Democrat or a Republican. I am here to win this district. It is to represent this area, not another part of the area, and to ensure that everyone gets a voice.” He said the point of redistricting is to make sure citizens get fair representation.
“I believe that this district, when it comes to small cities, does that, so I support this district and I welcome the challenge in November,” he said.
Cortez referenced his position as the District 2 representative on the State Board of Education, saying he has represented, and knows, the district in its current and previous configurations.
“At the end of the day I’m suing to protect voting rights,” he said. “They’re trying to silence your voice. This isn’t about me not liking the district, it’s about everybody being held accountable for what the state law says, and in this case they violated the whole-county provision of the Texas Constitution when they wrote the district the way they did.”
Both candidates said they are in favor of expanding Medicaid. Cortez stressed education issues and his service on the state board. He said his third top issue is fixing the state’s electrical grid.
In addition to pushing for expanding Medicaid, Villarreal said he would be a champion for mental health issues. His third top priority is flood control.
Cortez and Villarreal are both originally from Brownsville. Villarreal, a Harlingen businessman, graduated from Hanna High School, has a bachelor’s in government and public service and a master’s in public policy and management from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. He has residences in both Harlingen and Raymondville and filed his candidacy using the Raymondville address.
Cortez attended Gladys Porter High School and later earned a General Education Diploma. He attended the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College prior to it becoming UTRGV.
Cortez lives in Brownsville and previously served on the Brownsville Independent School District Board of Trustees.
In closing statements, both mentioned previous experience. Villareal said it’s important to elect the candidate with the experience to get the job done and who is invested in the local community. He mentioned “being responsible citizens and covering all of their costs, property taxes, sales taxes.
It was an apparent reference to a lawsuit filed by the Linebarger, Goggan, Blair and Sampson delinquent tax law firm to collect $19,250 in back taxes Cortez and his wife owed to the City of Brownsville, Cameron County and the Brownsville Independent School District.
The lawsuit was for property taxes incurred during tax years 2016-2019 on property he and his wife Sandra K. Cortez own at 1875 Los Angeles Court in Brownsville.
Cortez paid the taxes in full on Thursday, records show.
