After a more or less decent political interval — about 10 days — Democratic candidates for the new state House District 51 have begun to declare themselves, and thus far there are no surprises. This week, Maria Luisa “Lulu– Flores and Eddie Rodriguez confirmed their intentions to succeed retiring Dist. 51 Rep. Glen Maxey, first elected in 1991.
Flores, an attorney and currently the Railroad Commission’s assistant director for governmental affairs, publicly struck first, with a press conference Monday in the Speakers’ Committee Room. Meanwhile, Rodriguez — Maxey’s chief of staff and the just-resigned executive director of the Travis County Democratic Party — was working the fax and phones. Both had previously made clear their interest in the seat, although both deferred to incumbent Maxey as he awaited the outcome of redistricting before making his final decision to step down. When the final court-approved lines drew Maxey’s home out of his own district, he announced his retirement — thus clearing the way for new candidates in a southeast Austin district that was the first political home of current state Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos. The redrawn Dist. 51 is even more strongly Hispanic, recalling the awkward history of Maxey’s first campaigns (including defeats of Flores in both the 1991 special and 1992 regular elections), when he won what had previously been seen as a “Hispanic” seat.
Flores and Rodriguez were quick to praise the popular Maxey’s record as a progressive Democrat, while adding individual spins to their own legislative goals. In a prepared statement, Flores rang the changes on emblematically Democratic issues, stressing the importance of working for more equitable funding of education, better pay and benefits for teachers, affordable higher education and health care, economic development, and continuing action on environmental protection for Austin. “These problems exist elsewhere in our state,” Flores said, “but they are pervasive in District 51 and need serious attention now.” On environmental action, she pointed to her legislative and commission work on anti-pollution incentives and alternative fuels and concluded, “I will use the power of legislative oversight to ensure accountability from state agencies charged with protecting our environment.”
Kingsville Rep. Irma Rangel was on hand to endorse enthusiastically the candidacy of her former aide and chief of staff (1978-86). “She’s very well-prepared, honest, hard working,” Rangel said of Flores, “and she’ll get District 51 where it deserves to be.” Former Land Commissioner Garry Mauro also stopped by to support Flores, telling the Chronicle that while he admires Rodriguez, he has a “20-year history” with Flores and had particularly worked closely with her in developing the state’s programs for alternative fuels. Flores, who is 46, was asked to distinguish her record from that of Rodriguez (28). She responded simply, “22 years of legislative experience. That would be my strength against any candidate.”
In an interview, Rodriguez emphasized his own experience as Maxey’s chief aide (since 1997) and as executive director of the rejuvenated county Democratic Party (since 1998). His filing announcement addressed several of the same issues raised by Flores: health care, education, affordable housing, and the environment, although he added to these “a woman’s right to choose” and “protecting the civil rights for all people.” Rodriguez told the Chronicle, “What this district needs right now … is someone with a very progressive agenda who will stick to his guns, defend the city against Austin-bashing, and will stand up for some of the things the district needs: housing, health care, education, and so on. District 51 has a tradition of electing dogged legislators who will fight for the little guy — activist and progressive legislators — and I intend to maintain that tradition.”
Pointing to voluminous Maxey legislation he had helped guide through the House, Rodriguez said he will continue Maxey’s work on public health issues, but will place more emphasis on public education — particularly the role of community colleges like ACC. In light of the budget crunch and the growing consensus that the school-funding system is badly broken, Rodriguez — like Flores — wants to focus on legislative plans to address state education funding.
The issue opens a small window of difference between the candidates. Flores said while she wouldn’t rule out any plan to fix the state’s regressive tax system, she was not ready to endorse an income tax. Rodriguez said bluntly that he would follow Maxey’s tradition of sponsoring income-tax legislation. “I will introduce an income-tax bill,” Rodriguez said. “I firmly believe that that should be an option to look at, and that the Legislature needs to vote on that. We need to explore every possibility to fix the funding problems that we have.”
This article appears in December 21 • 2001.
