By Juan Montoya
How long has Cris Valadez, the administrative assistant for former GOP Texas Secretary of State and former Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos, been flying under the radar supporting Democratic State Rep. Rene Oliveira against challenger Cameron County Pct. 2 commissioner Alex Dominguez?
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It's hard to tell how long Valadez – who also goes by the name of his alter ego also called Maclovio O'Malley on Jerry McHale's blog – has been on the take, but this time the Oliveira campaign felt obligated to list him on their campaign expenditure report. (Click on graphic to enlarge.)
(That's Valadez joshing with convicted former Cameron County District Attorney Armando Villalobos, one of his most notable guests on his radio show before Mando was sentenced to 7 years in prison for bribery and corruption.)
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But does anyone really believe that Cris would submit to the pedestrian task of taking poseras out in the South Texas sun and installing Rene's campaign signs as is stated on the campaign report? On the day of the $500 expenditure, the U.S. Weather Service says the temperature reached 88 degrees. Add the humidity and we get a heat index past the mid 90s.
His dermatologist would be the first to object, we're sure.
Of course, the runoff between Oliveira and Dominguez is among both Democrats with no Republican candidate in the general election in November.
So Cascos can honestly say que no tiene vela en este velorio.
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But the fact that Valadez is closely associated with the former county judge and current Republican candidate for county judge in November against Eddie Treviño may result in some negative consequences for Cascos from those traditional Democratic voters who crossed over in his past races to support him.
In fact, someone pointed out that it was Valadez who was egging former county judge candidate Robert Sanchez to run against Treviño and to publicly engage Oliveira in Austin. Did Sanchez know Cris would side with Oliveira in the end?
There were 3,295 votes cast for challengers Dominguez and Arturo Alonso against 3,096 for Oliveria in the primary in March. The Cascos formula is to get at least 22 percent of the Democratic vote to win in November. But it is not a given that all the Democrats who vote for Oliveira will cross party lines to vote for Cascos.
The voters who support Dominguez (all Democrats) will probably not be pleased to know Cascos' allowed his assistant to work for Oliveira against their guy.
The address on the campaign report lists Valadez's address as 630 E. Price. That's the address for St. Joseph's Water, the Valadez's family business.
As they say, politics makes strange bedfellows. In this case, no one believed that Valadez was playing under the sheets with Rene. Go figure.
How long has Cris Valadez, the administrative assistant for former GOP Texas Secretary of State and former Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos, been flying under the radar supporting Democratic State Rep. Rene Oliveira against challenger Cameron County Pct. 2 commissioner Alex Dominguez?
It's hard to tell how long Valadez – who also goes by the name of his alter ego also called Maclovio O'Malley on Jerry McHale's blog – has been on the take, but this time the Oliveira campaign felt obligated to list him on their campaign expenditure report. (Click on graphic to enlarge.)
(That's Valadez joshing with convicted former Cameron County District Attorney Armando Villalobos, one of his most notable guests on his radio show before Mando was sentenced to 7 years in prison for bribery and corruption.)
But does anyone really believe that Cris would submit to the pedestrian task of taking poseras out in the South Texas sun and installing Rene's campaign signs as is stated on the campaign report? On the day of the $500 expenditure, the U.S. Weather Service says the temperature reached 88 degrees. Add the humidity and we get a heat index past the mid 90s.His dermatologist would be the first to object, we're sure.
Of course, the runoff between Oliveira and Dominguez is among both Democrats with no Republican candidate in the general election in November.
So Cascos can honestly say que no tiene vela en este velorio.
But the fact that Valadez is closely associated with the former county judge and current Republican candidate for county judge in November against Eddie Treviño may result in some negative consequences for Cascos from those traditional Democratic voters who crossed over in his past races to support him.In fact, someone pointed out that it was Valadez who was egging former county judge candidate Robert Sanchez to run against Treviño and to publicly engage Oliveira in Austin. Did Sanchez know Cris would side with Oliveira in the end?
There were 3,295 votes cast for challengers Dominguez and Arturo Alonso against 3,096 for Oliveria in the primary in March. The Cascos formula is to get at least 22 percent of the Democratic vote to win in November. But it is not a given that all the Democrats who vote for Oliveira will cross party lines to vote for Cascos.
The voters who support Dominguez (all Democrats) will probably not be pleased to know Cascos' allowed his assistant to work for Oliveira against their guy.
The address on the campaign report lists Valadez's address as 630 E. Price. That's the address for St. Joseph's Water, the Valadez's family business.
As they say, politics makes strange bedfellows. In this case, no one believed that Valadez was playing under the sheets with Rene. Go figure.