Three months ago, Ciro Rodriguez stood in the parking lot of a South Side Handy Andy and bemoaned the way redistricting had carved up his base. The state’s interim Congressional map had split the South Side – at the very intersection where Rodriguez stood – into three districts, and while Rodriguez ultimately decided to run in his old District 23, the district’s contours weren’t as accommodating to him as they’d been in the past.
That accounts for some of the confidence – okay, let’s call it overconfidence – emanating from the camp of state Rep. Pete Gallego, Rodriguez’s chief rival in last week’s District 23 Democratic primary. Gallego’s reps privately noted that Bexar County – which made up 30 percent of the District 23 vote in the 2010 primary – was now a much smaller piece of the district, and figured that change could only help the Alpine-based Gallego.
But Team Gallego was so busy looking at what redistricting had taken from Rodriguez, they might have overlooked the gift that redistricting had given him: Frio County.
Join Plaza de Armas to read the full article and access all of our content. Subscribe now or login.
