FIL VELA JR. YEARNS FOR POWER AS GOP (AND/OR) DEMO

By Juan Montoya
Even before this year's election cycle began, Filemon Vela Jr. has been courting the halls of power either through the promotion of his wife and friends, or through flip-flopping political parties as it becomes convenient to him to have a shot at grabbing the brass ring.
Many people Coastal Bend residents remember back in 2009 when a vacancy opened up on the Texas Supreme Court and his wife, Corpus Christi Judge Rose Vela, was seeking the appointment to the court through the good offices of Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
Unfortunately, the Velas had backed the wrong horse in the governor's race, his rival Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson.
Undeterred, Fil Jr. sought out a known Perry intimate and supporter – Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos – to help his wife get the appointment.
However, Fil Jr. told a Corpus Christi newspaper then that he was dismayed by what Cascos told him: He needed to publicly disavow his support of Hutchnison, get on the Perry re-election bandwagon, and give the governor some campaign money in order for his wife to even be considered for the appointment.
“It’s clear that despite her qualifications, that when it came to the appointment, she was not on a level playing field because I had contributed to Hutchison and I wasn’t going to switch my support just to help her get the appointment,” Fil Jr. told The Associated Press then.
Perry ultimately appointed Eva Guzman of Houston. Guzman became the first Latina to win election to a statewide office in Texas in 2010, securing a full six-year term on the state’s highest civil court.

When the appointment for his wife did not materialize after Fil Jr. vacillated between renouncing Hutchinson and embracing Perry, he outed Cascos with the media, insinuating that Perry – through Cascos – had demanded a payoff in return for the appointment.
At the time, Cascos told the media that there were never any assurances of a quid pro quo as Vela Jr. has insinuated to a reporter.
Fil Jr. told the reporter from the Corpus Christi Caller-Times that Cascos said Perry’s office “will never consider Rose unless you switch your endorsement.”
“I said, ‘I’m not going to do that.”
In a second phone call, Cascos suggested matching his donation to Hutchinson with one to Perry to “even it up,” Filemon Vela said. That was $4,000, according to campaign finance records.
The county judge, however, remembered it different.
Cascos said the advice was meant “from one friend to another” and not as a message from Perry or anybody who works for him.

“I said if you want it bad enough . . . I would withdraw the endorsement (of Hutchinson), I would contribute to the campaign, I would support him,” Cascos recalled. He also said he told Fil Jr. that it was only a suggestion and “there’s no guarantees or assurances that anything is going to happen.”
Despite the $4,000 donation, Perry appointed Guzman to the position vacated when Supreme Court Justice Scott Brister announced he was stepping down from the high court, allowing Perry to seek a temporary replacement.
Rose Vela first was elected to the bench in 1998, to the 148th District Court as a Democrat. But in 2006 she declared herself a Republican candidate for the 13th Court of Appeals. Fil Jr. comes from a family of prominent Rio Grande Valley Democrats.
Today, Rose Vela is running against Democrat Roy Valdez for reelection as Chief Justice of the 13th Court of Appeals. The 13th Court of Appeals serves twenty counties from Cameron to Matagorda with five Justices. The Chief Justice is based out of Corpus Christi and Edinburg, Texas. Rose Vela first was elected to the bench in 1998, to the 148th District Court as a Democrat. She was elected to the 13th Court f Appeals in 2006 as a Republican.
Fil Vela, who is listed as treasurer for Connie Scott, a Republican state Rep. seeking re-election for 2012 in Nueces County, is running as a Democrat for the newly-created congressional seat District 34.
He is reported to have contributed thousands of dollars to the Republican cause and recruited GOP candidate Tom Greenwell to run for Place 2 on the 13th Court of Appeals against Democrat Nora Longoria.

Other Vela hand-picked GOP candidates include Jaime Tijerina to run against Democrat Nelda Rodriguez for Place 4 on the 13th Court of Appeals and Doug Norman to challenge Gina Benavides, the Democratic candidate for Place 5 on the Appeals Court.

That has raised some eyebrows among the Democratic faithful. During the drawing of the places on the ballot, several of them expressed anger that the statewide Democratic leadership would allow people like Fil Jr. to manipulate the system by pitting GOP candidates to run against Democrats and at the same time seeking to parlay his Democratically-recognized name in the Rio Grande Valley to try to propell himself to Congress.
"The leadership should state in no uncertain terms that this type of manipulation should not be allowed," said a longtime Democrat. "To participate in the Democratic primary, you should support the party. What people do in the general election is their choice. We need to know where you stand now before you become our nominee."