GARZA-PEREZ: IS FAVORING ONE CANDIDATE UNITING THE PARTY?

"I ask that we all come together and bring unity to the party not division. Lets remember that unity brings people together..division benefits no one..." Sylvia Garza-Perez, chmn.-elect, Cameron County Democratic Party

By Juan Montoya

If one is to believe Sylvia Perez-Garza, the Democratic party chair(person)-elect, she is going to be a different chairman than Gilberto Hinojosa and be inclusive, uniting, etc.,
So how does she explain that she is brazenly taking sides in some campaign races on behalf of her favorites, namely Erin Hernandez Garcia, in the runoff race for Justice of the Peace 2-2?
She is the same Sylvia who told a blogger recently that we would have to live with the politiquera system as a necessary evil until we find a better way to do it, distancing herself carefully from her relative (distant she says), politiquera extraordinaire Herminia Becerra?
At a recent function for a Democratic Party candidate, Garza-Perez twice came up to Erin's opponent Yolanda Begum and accused her of "trying to buy the election." and left before the startled candidate had a chance to ask what prompted her allegations.
Then, later in the same function, she accused Begum of being in contact with Republican candidate Raul Lopez, who will face the winner of the Democratic Party runoff in November.
"Raul is my cousin and he tells me everything," she said accusingly.
Perez-Garza is feeling her oats and feels that she has a mandate in the county after she garnered an incredible  11,126 votes for chairman, far outstripping her closes opponent Jared Hockema who got 6,373. John Shergold languished a far third.
In her victory statements, she waxed about seeking the position "she wanted to unite and re-energize the party, which she sees as somewhat disorganized."
She told reporters that she wanted to remake the Democratic party and remove the party offices from the law offices of the chairman and set up satellite offices in Harlingen as well.
"I'd like to reorganize every group of precinct chairs and make them a little bit more responsible and more accountable," she said. "We have some precinct positions that people have been in there for 10 or 15 years and they don't come to any of the meetings."
Another goal is to get more young people involved and engaged with the party, Garza-Perez said, noting that civic responsibility isn't emphasized in schools as much as it should be.
It might help if the party would vet candidates and decide which ones best represent the party's interest, Garza-Perez told reporters.
So is this what she is doing now, before she even takes office? If it is, then she has apparently decided that she would rather have Erin Hernandez Garcia, the daughter of Cameron County Pct. 2 commissioner Ernie Hernandez as justice of the peace than she would Begum.
"Sylvia actively lobbied for the Latter Carrier's Union to endorse Erin instead of Begum when they were trying to come to a decision," said a party activist. "She is making no bones about who she is supporting in that race."
If so, Garza-Perez would be wise to note that at the recent Loteria hosted by Tony "La Peca" Rocha at his salon off the frontage road in Brownsville, more than 300 Begum supporters crowded the site in support of the candidate.
Also, the core of Begum's support are middle- and upper-middle class business-oriented people who have traditionally not gotten involved in local politics, content to remain commercially active with their concerns in northern Mexico even though they live in Brownsville and their families and children live here and attend local schools.
Should this group feel that Garza-Perez is campaigning against their candidate – Begum – that will not sit well with them and they might look for a more welcoming party such as the Republicans, who would welcome them with open arms. And all this before she even takes over the helm of the Democratic Party.
She, echoing another Brownsville female elected official, said her election appears to be historic: Garza-Perez believes she's the first woman and the first non-attorney to be elected to the position.
If she starts off on the wrong foot as she apparently is doing now, she might just be the last.