So How Did Ciro win?

Simple – by winning where the votes are. Like so much of American politics today, the Congressional District 23 race (see previous posts below) was something of an urban (blue) vs. rural (red) battle, and although Bonilla beat Rodriguez in 12 of the sprawling district's 20 counties, Rodriguez won the most populous, Bexar. Almost all of Rodriguez's 6,082-vote margin of victory came in the western part of Bexar that is within the district. Theoretically, he could have lost all of the other 19 counties and still squeaked his way into Congress. Although the district stretches all the way from San Antonio to the eastern city limits of El Paso, the San Antonio end dominates: 65% of the votes cast were in Bexar County, and Rodriguez took 56% of those. For a county-by-county breakdown, the Secretary of State's Web site.