DISTRICT 40 CORRECTION!!!

STATE REP. Aaron Pena VS POLITICAL STRATEGIST Kelly Fero
FOR DISTRICT 40

"We here at THE POLITICAL RING were looking forward to seeing a FAIR AND BALANCED HONEST RACE ON THE REMATCH OF PENA v SAENZ II. Seems like One candidate has unleashed the BIG GUN. REACH will be one of the most important ingredients to this race. Good luck to both Candidates oh and The Big Gun too."

Top Democratic strategist signs on for Saenz
By Steve Taylor

EDINBURG, September 18 - Kelly Fero, one of the top Democratic strategists in Texas, has signed on as a campaign consultant to House District 40 candidate Eddie Saenz.
Saenz, a 47-year-old civil engineer, ran for the District 40 seat in the Democratic primary in 2004 but lost easily to incumbent Rep. Aaron Peña, D-Edinburg. Saenz picked up 36 percent of the vote, Peña, a 48-year-old attorney, secured 64 percent.
Fero, who has worked in the past with state Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen, state Rep. Veronica Gonzales, D-McAllen, and Hidalgo County Judge J.D. Salinas, says he believes things will be different in 2008.
“It’s a new day and I think the voters of District 40 want a new direction. The dynamics have changed,” Fero said.
“The leadership climate in Texas is increasingly in a state of flux. We are in a state of transformation and people are looking for something new. Without being supercritical of Aaron, he is on the wrong side of history in supporting Tom Craddick.”
A former award-winning journalist and author, Fero has worked with governors and other top elected officials around the country. In Texas, he is perhaps best known for his work on the campaigns of former Comptroller John Sharp. Sharp backed Saenz in the 2004 election.
Fero, who lives in Austin, was raised in Argentina and speaks Spanish fluently. He has a bachelor’s degree in economics from UNAM, the national university in Mexico City. He has worked as a communications strategist for both Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo and presidential candidate Francisco Labastida. He has also written influential studies Texas-Mexico border issues.
In the 2004 campaign, Peña portrayed Saenz as a business-friendly, closet Republican. Peña had served just one term in the House and was viewed as a staunch Democrat loyal to Democratic Caucus leader Jim Dunnam, D-Waco. Once he had beaten Saenz, Peña took a different path, pledging support for Craddick, the Republican House speaker.
At the start of the 2007, Peña gave a nomination speech for Craddick and voted for him in a contentious speaker’s race at the start of the session. He was rewarded with the chairmanship of the Criminal Jurisprudence Committee.
By the end of a fraught session, some Craddick Ds, such as Reps. Patrick Rose, D-Dripping Springs, and Eddie Lucio III, D-Harlingen, had deserted the speaker. Another Craddick D, Rep. Joe Deshotel, D-Beaumont, led a walkout from the House chamber after Craddick refused to recognize members who wanted to oust him.
Peña stayed loyal to Craddick throughout, and, in an interview with the Guardian at the end of the session, said being a member of the leadership team paid big dividends for the Rio Grande Valley and his district.
“As difficult as it was, we far exceeded our expectations. We really did. It was a success beyond any other region of the state,” Peña said. “Clearly, our position in the leadership team helped.”
Peña pointed to the additional $5 million appropriated to the Regional Academic Health Center, $3 million for a substance abuse facility in Edinburg, $750,000 for the Museum of South Texas History in Edinburg, and $45 million for a Department of Public Safety center in Hidalgo County.
Fero said it was clear Peña would not be able to cast Saenz as the Republican-friendly candidate this time.
“Aaron swift-boated Eddie in 2004. That is not going to happen this time,” Fero said. “In fact, Aaron is going to have a hard time painting anyone but himself as being in bed with the Republicans. He may have run as a Democrat but he has voted as a Republican.”
Times do appear to have changed since 2004. Back then, Saenz and his supporters claimed Peña was a back bench bomb thrower who could not pass legislation because he would not work with the House leadership. Responding to early criticism from Saenz this time round, Peña has said his opponent would not be effective if he positioned himself as “a back-bencher bomb-thrower.”
Fero said Peña would try to claim he had achieved much for his district by being a member of the leadership team. He said the claims would not stand up to close scrutiny. “The fact is that District 40 is still one of the poorest districts in the state,” Fero said.
Fero said Saenz could legitimately challenge Peña on two important issues – his performance on restoring cuts to the Children’s Health Insurance Program and his absence on a key vote for a Voter ID bill supported by Republicans.
Peña has said the Craddick D’s played a crucial role in changing the eligibility rules so that tens of thousands of children could be re-enrolled in CHIP. “The Democrats for Reform negotiated and fought for CHIP every step of the way. We were turned down multiple times. We negotiated and we succeeded,” Peña told the Guardian.
Fero said District 40 voters would see through such comments. “CHIP enrollment is still not close to what it was. It is still a huge challenge that Aaron has not been up to,” Fero said.
On the voter ID bill, Fero pointed out that Peña missed a crucial vote in April on an amendment offered by Dunnam that would have exempted citizens aged 65 from over from having to provide more forms of ID in order to vote. The amendment was defeated by just one vote, 73-72, with the vote mostly breaking along party lines.
Peña missed the vote because he was giving a speech about crime victims in McAllen. “He could have given that speech any day of the week. When it came to voting against the Voter ID bill that Republicans wanted, Aaron was nowhere to be seen,” Fero said.
Fero said District 40 voters would look more favorably at Saenz this time round because he has shown the leadership skills necessary to be effective in Austin.
“Eddie is a community leader with knowledge of infrastructure projects that are critical to the area. He has been creating jobs for many years and knows all about health care.”