Remarks made during a political forum meant to give Republican candidates for the District 28 congressional seat an opportunity to discuss their platforms turned duplicitous when one candidate spoke on safety along the border.
Futuro RGV expected the seven GOP hopefuls who seek Democratic incumbent Rep. Henry Cuellar’s post at their forum, which was moderated by former McAllen Mayor Jim Darling on Monday, but only two showed up: Cassy Garcia and Sandra Whitten.
Hidalgo County is no longer part of District 28, but Starr, Zapata, Webb counties and a portion of east San Antonio are part of this race.
Whitten ran against Cuellar in 2020 and took 39% of votes in the general election. Previously, she was a homemaker and conservative member of her community, according to her profile on Ballotpedia.
Garcia, a political newcomer, touted 17 years of public service, including her work for Sen. Ted Cruz and a Trump presidential appointment to the Hispanic Prosperity Initiative.
Their experiences informed views that, at times, aligned but more often contrasted vastly, unlike the forum held with the Democratic challengers who embraced similar stances.
Border issues dominated the forum and touched on topics including immigration reform, increasing the use of worker visas, safety along the border and the border wall.
Both candidates supported the use of border walls, but Whitten went further.
“Let’s throw a couple of alligators in there,” Whitten said smiling. “They’re native to South Texas.”
Garcia, who won the endorsement of the National Border Patrol Council, said congressional leaders should work with Border Patrol to determine where a wall or technology would be needed.
Views also differed when they discussed safety on the border.
“I can say it’s one of the safest communities,” Garcia said of cities along the border.
As Sen. Ted Cruz’s deputy state director, Garcia said she enjoyed showing lawmakers the beauty of the regions that live along the Rio Grande.
Though, she stressed the need to protect the border in a time when immigrants are circumventing federal agents as they enter the country illegally.
Whitten said talking about safety on the border is one of her favorite questions.
“I’ve never not felt safe from anybody in the United States of America; however, I’m very cautious,” she prefaced, but then talked about cartel violence on the U.S. side.
“They’re sending in SWAT style teams to come in and neutralize their enemies in the United States,” Whitten said without pointing to any actual incidents.
Her claims grew bolder saying that cartel violence was on the rise in the U.S. under the Biden administration as it had under the Obama presidency and pointed to an incident The Monitor could not substantiate.
“Zapata County, for example, had somebody who was, actually, dismembered, because it was a cartel hit piece [sic]. And, we know for a fact, that the cartel went back into Mexico after they killed this young man,” Whitten said.
The Zapata County sheriff, Raymundo Del Bosque, said he is not aware of any person who was dismembered in his county recently or since his time working for the office as far back as 2013.
“I’m upset, because it’s not right,” Del Bosque said Tuesday of Whitten’s claim.
The most recent incident involving cartels in Zapata that the sheriff could recall happened in July of last year when a home invasion turned deadly. Two sicarios, or cartel hitmen, for the Tropa del Infierno, the Cartel del Noreste paramilitary arm, crossed the border, went into Zapata and shot and killed a man in his early 20s. Two local men were also arrested, but the incident did not involve dismemberment or cartel SWAT teams.
Del Bosque said he and his office are endorsing Cuellar and are grateful for what the incumbent has done for them and residents by providing resources to their border town.
Zapata County was brought up again when Darling asked if Garcia and Whitten supported the federal government’s efforts to expand broadband access in rural communities.
“Is the internet incredibly important and useful? Absolutely it is,” Whitten said, adding, “but I don’t believe that it should be a right by any stretch of the imagination.”
She pointed to Zapata County that has had a problem with access to water, a basic need, and said the government should make basic needs a priority.
“I don’t agree with the comment that it’s not necessary,” Joe Rathmell, the Zapata County judge, said, referring to the internet.
But, he agreed with Whitten, in part: “It would certainly take priority over broadband, but I think we can do both.”
Rural communities struggled with broadband access at the onset of the pandemic, sending cities like Donna to invest heavily in projects to help a community where half of the students report poor or no access.
“That was an issue for parents. Many children did not have access to broadband,” Garcia said. “We talk about infrastructure, broadband is part of infrastructure.”
She proposed using more public-private partnerships to create more access for schools, to improve rural healthcare, wireless medical devices and other medical services that rely on internet connectivity.
The forum included other issues where the candidates stood on opposite sides.
Garcia supports creating pathways to citizenship for immigrants who were brought into the country illegally when they were children and believes American industries would benefit from an increase in work visas.
Whitten opposed both and said she would not approve the Dreamers Act, which she believed was part of open border policies.
Gun control was a topic that presented another chance for great contrast.
Whitten and Garcia both cited the Second Amendment and believed it is an American’s God-given right to defend themselves, but they disagreed on universal background checks.
“There are a lot of folks that go through the system, that get a background check, yet, are still able to access a gun and hurt innocent lives. So, I do think that there needs to be universal background checks,” Garcia said.
Whitten read the Second Amendment to emphasize what the law does not mention.
“It’s very clear that nowhere in there is [sic] universal background checks going to protect anybody. The people who are purchasing firearms are not walking into a Gander Mountain or a Bass and Pro Shop to try and buy a firearm. They’re getting it in a backrow alley,” Whitten said.
Several mass shooters, however, purchased their firearms legally, including James Holmes who purchased a rifle and glock at Gander Mountain stores, and handgun and shotgun at a Bass and Pro Shop before opening fire in a Colorado theater in 2016.
The shooter from Allen, Texas who drove to El Paso and killed more than 20 people in 2019 legally purchased a weapon online and picked it up at a local store, too.
Garcia and Whitten agreed against vaccine mandates requiring the COVID-19 vaccine, though they both claim they are not anti-vaccine.
Garcia said she received two COVID-19 shots, and Whitten said her children are immunized against other illnesses.
Though the primary will include five other Republican candidates, Whitten believes the race is about which Republican will take the Democratic seat.
“This isn’t about sending a Republican to Washington D.C. This is about sending the right Republican to Washington D.C. who is not going to sit here and play games, and who’s going to make sure that Nancy Pelosi, AOC and her merry band of socialists stay out of our country and stay out of our state,” Whitten said.
“The American Dream is my reality, and this is the reason I’m running for Congress,” Garcia said. “People across the district are looking for a new hope in Washington, one that inspires hope and that is focused on creating jobs, protecting innocent rights and securing our border and upholding our constitutional rights.”
