| Netroots supporters on actblue (including this diarist) donated over $100,000 to Rodriguez, making him one of our most significant investments, as he himself gratefully acknowledged:
And I believe I speak for all our supporters and campaign team when I say that we were profoundly touched by the thousands of regular working families from throughout the country who helped fund our effort with their checks of $5, $10, and $20. They looked beyond geographic and cultural differences and sent a message that we are all Americans and that we must stand and act together to reclaim our government.
During the primary he hired Tracey Jones and had a strong netroots presence. Ultimately though he did worse than in the 2004 primary and we failed to replace the odious Cuellar. Rodriguez got some criticism after the loss for being a poor campaigner. (This view of him seems to be shared by the netroots, the mainstream media, and the national party.)
Why then are we writing about Congressman Ciro Rodriguez? The 2003 redistricting was ruled illegal, and much of Rodriguez's base of San Antonio was shifted to TX-23. Rodriguez earned only 20.3% to Republican Henry Bonilla's 48.1% in the November primary, but that was enough to a runoff, which Rodriguez unexpectedly won the runoff election, doubtlessly helped by the Latino backlash against Republican demonization of Mexicans. The DCCC heavily supported him in the runoff, spending $1.5 million, and my sense was that there was much less netroots involvement. His victory -- ousting the only Latino Republican Congressman -- was sign of the alienation of Latinos from the Republican party.
For his stated beliefs, Let me note this e-mail from 26 September 2006 to his previous donors (my emphasis):
We can win the race for the 23rd Texas Congressional District. You may know Bonilla's shameful record in Congress. He supports the disastrous policies of the Republican Party and the Bush Administration. He voted in favor of national budgets that have taken the country into debt to the tune of almost 9 trillion dollars. Gasoline prices are through the roof. Bonilla's friends in the oil industry rake in record profits while he votes to give the energy companies subsidies and tax breaks. He continues to support a war in Iraq with no exit strategy. His votes are just rubber stamps for an embattled Republican Party.
According to Open Secrets, he gets 45% of his money from individuals and 52% from PACs. Lawyers and labor unions dominate the controbution lists, though the largest contributor is MoveOn.org for the reasons discussed above.
Rodriguez was rewarded with a seat on the powerful House Appropriations Committee.
He has voted with the Democrats in 96.0% of votes and has nly missed 3 votes (0.4%). A list of all votes against the Democratic party since 1991 is available at the WaPo. However, he earned the Bush Dog status with vptes for wiretapping and the Iraq War. He has voted for a number of other Democratic bills calling for withdrawal from Iraq, as well as increasing the minimum wage, negotiating drug prices, and the 9/11 Commission reforms. He has attracted attention for support for returning veteran's mental health. He is said to support public financing for elections.
There appears to have been some coverage in the San Antonio press that important local base closure funds were put in danger by the Iraq War dispute: Apparently this was $3.1 billion. Rodriguez may have felt pressure to support the bill for this reason, but that is just my theory, and that certainly does not explain all his bad votes.
One should note that voted against Iraq War in 2002 and against the impeachment of President Clinton but for the Patriot Act in 2001. He has some older past votes that I'm not thrilled by, such as the Flag Burning amendment and No Child Left Behind (supported by Kennedy after all.)
TX-23 attracted many challengers in the primary last time, and I think it is too early to tell what will happen next year. Nathaniel Ament Stone's July 2007 analysis of House incumbents says:
Texas 23
Ciro Rodriguez (D) running for 2nd term
Cook PVI: R+4
I am very confident in Rodriguez. The NRCC hopes they can push the magic librul button here, but in reality their only hope is to get a well-known, well-financed Latino Republican, and Henry Bonilla is over. So instead, they are hoping to recruit Bexar County Commissioner Lyle Larson. Meanwhile, only GOP activist Quico Canseco is officially in.
Rodriguez has does well in fundraising according to Burnt Orange Report
Conclusion: Rodriguez's "Bush Dogs" votes are especially painful given the support he got last time, but he is otherwise a good Democrat on many liberal issues in a Republican-leaning district and a great improvement over Henry Bonilla. I think the "Bush Dog" moniker does not characterize him fairly, and while he deserves public criticism, I think a primary challenge is unlikely and unwise.
Hopeful in NJ -- yes, I live in New Jersey and have no Texas connections. |
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