Fwd: [DemocraticResearch] Hernandez wins race to fulfill Moreno term

and we honor the memory of Rep. Joe Moreno

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/printstory.mpl/front/3516821

Dec. 11, 2005, 1:06AM

ELECTION 2005

Hernandez wins race to fulfill Moreno term

She takes 61% of the vote in the runoff for state House District 143

By KRISTEN MACK
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

Ana Hernandez handily beat Laura Salinas on Saturday night in the District 143 runoff, a state House election born of tragedy and defined by competing factions in the Hispanic political community.

In complete but unofficial returns, Hernandez bested Salinas 61 percent to 39 percent in the runoff special election to complete the term of state Rep. Joe Moreno, a Houston Democrat killed in a May car crash.

"We are excited. The hard work has paid off," Hernandez said. "What differentiated me was experience. I worked three legislative sessions, and I worked for Joe Moreno and the constituents of District 143. I not only knew the needs of the district but also how to get things done."

Hernandez will be on the ballot again in March for the Democratic primary. She isn't expecting competition in that race but said she will campaign just as hard to gain the support of the district's constituents.

Despite the occasional bitterness of the campaign, Hernandez said she thinks everyone has the "common interest of improving the community, and I think we can work together towards that common goal."

Moreno's death left wide open a district that sprawls alongside the Houston Ship Channel east of downtown and is crisscrossed by factories, refineries and railroad tracks.

Solidly working-class and predominantly Hispanic and Democratic, voters tend toward bread-and-butter issues: education, health care, insurance coverage, services for children and aid for the poor and elderly.

Hernandez and Salinas are both young and well-educated, similar in background and identical in party affiliation, but they drew support from decidedly different factions.

Hernandez, 27, is a Mexican-born immigrant who graduated from the University of Texas Law School and is a lawyer with ConocoPhillips. She worked in Austin for Moreno and for state Rep. Jessica
Farrar, his close friend.

Farrar's support for Hernandez, along with that of state Sen. Mario Gallegos and state Rep. Rick Noriega, brought her a slew of endorsements and a pile of campaign money.

One of her strongest supporters was the Texas Trial Lawyers Association Political Action Committee, which contributed $29,300 to Hernandez in the 30 days leading up to the general election.

That spawned charges from Salinas that Hernandez was the anointed candidate who, if elected, would be beholden to many. Hernandez disputed it.

Salinas, 28, is the niece of former state Rep. Diana Davila, who is married to former state Rep. Roman Martinez, one of Salinas' heaviest financial backers. He fought and lost a bitter 1994 race against Gallegos to become Houston's first and only Hispanic state senator.

Salinas, who works for a commercial real estate firm, was supported by the Texans for Lawsuit Reform Political Action Committee, which
contributed more than $50,000 to her campaign during the last reporting period.

"There's no doubt that I am the community's candidate. Unfortunately, people did not come out and vote," Salinas said, citing the turnout of fewer than 4,000 in the district.

Salinas, who was making her first run for office, said she would try again.

"I may not be their voice in Austin, but I will definitely be screaming and shouting for them in the future," she said. "This is my first race, not my last."

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