By Bobby Tingle

 

Golden Triangle Emergency Center Marketing Liaison Christina Segura attended the Industrial Exchange on the Lamar State College – Orange campus in August.

Orange Leader Marketing Consultant Candi Trahan and I had the pleasure of eating lunch with her.

Segura told us about her father, Peter Flores, who achieved the rank of Colonel as a Game Warden for Texas Parks and Wildlife before retiring in 2012.

Segura was proud enough of his accomplishments as a game warden, but on this day she spoke of his political aspirations.

Flores, at the time, was campaigning to win a Senate seat in Texas Senate District 19.

District 19 is spread over all or part of 19 counties from Bexar west to Brewster including a long stretch of border with Mexico.

This was a special election being held due to the resignation of Democrat Senator Carlos Uresti.

Uresti was elected to office to fill this senate seat until 2021 but resigned after he was convicted of 11 felonies.  He held the seat for more than two decades.

Flores upset his Democrat opponent, Pete Gallego, in this special election for a seat in a district held by Democrats for 139 years.

The demographics of this district would lead one to believe it should be a solid Democrat stronghold.

The district is predominantly comprised of minority residents with 73 percent African-American and Hispanic occupants.

These folks are supposed to bleed blue not red.

The blue wave shouldn’t have been necessary in a Texas district with such a blue history.  The blue wave is supposed to wash away the red.

Or at least color the land purple.

Maybe the political pundits and prognosticators are wrong.

Maybe they don’t understand voter aspirations after all.

If the Flores success is any indication of what is to come, then we may be looking at voters laying out a red carpet for Republicans to walk down the victory lane.

Wouldn’t that be a hoot?

How did Flores win?

If you read news accounts online posted by Fox News and The Texas Tribune, you get the impression he campaigned well and garnered more votes than his opponent in an election where voter turnout was significant.

If you go to his campaign website, you will see his position on several issues.

At the top of the list, Flores states he is pro-life and supports the defunding of Planned Parenthood.

Under the heading of social issues he states, “the family is the foundation of our society” and goes on to extol the virtues of the traditional family and the benefits of keeping our foundations strong.

He endorses addressing gun violence by enforcing existing laws and defending the right of citizens to bear arms.

He attributes our freedom to the sacrifices of our veterans, states he devoted a career to conservation of natural resources and feels education should focus on course and subject rather than administration and special projects.

He also states positions on property rights, public safety, the Constitution, the production of oil and gas, spending and taxes and the economy.

His positions seem out of step with the Democrat blueprint.

His positions must be in step with the voters in State of Texas Senate District 19.

Orange City Councilman Brad Childs wondered out loud recently as we visited in his store on 16^th street if voters would buck the trend in the mid-terms and vote for the party in power.

History would indicate the answer to Childs musing is no.

But if it can happen in District 19, maybe it could happen all over the country.

I hope Flores success is one of many instances where voters ignore the blue wave and roll out the red carpet for candidates with similar aspirations for our state and nation.

Regardless of your party affiliation or whether you agree with Flores or not I would encourage you to get out and vote in November.

 

Bobby Tingle is publisher of The Orange Leader.  You can reach him at bobby.tingle@orangeleader.com.