OZUNA AND SALAZAR: O TODOS COLUDOS O TODOS RABONES

By Juan Montoya
When word spread through the body politic and chismosos that Raul Salazar, the administrative assistant to Cameron County Pct. 2 Commissioner Ernie Hernandez, has been arrested on an indictment handed down by a grand jury, people called up Norma, the commissioner's wife to inquire about her husband's long time associate.
"No va a dormir una noche en la carcel," Norma told them.
Sure enough, according to Cameron County Sheriff Omar Lucio, when Salazar got to Carrizales-Rucker county lockup, Justice of the Peace Linda Salazar was there to set bail on him. Soon, the requisite $100,000 bond was provided by the county's pre-trial release program.
Salazar, as Norma had asserted, never slept in jail.
"Usually the jail magistrate sets bond for them in the morning," Lucio said today. "But Judge Salazar came over and set the bond on him. He was released after he posted the bond."
And today, el sinverguenza de Ernie told the local dialy that Salazar will be there at the precinct office where he was arrested and led off with handcuffs to meet and greet those doing business with Precinct 2.
Across town, supporters of Margarita Ozuna, the politiquera who has long been associated with the
Hernandez vote harvester machine looked on in amazement. Ozuna, who pleaded no contest to a voting violation that occurred three years ago when Ernie Hernandez ran against Ruben Peña and won on the weight of mail-in votes harvested by her and the likes of Herminia Becerra, chafed under the differnece in her treatment by the Hernandezes.
"If it hadn't been for Mage neither Ernie nor his daughter Erin would be in office right now," said one of her supporters. "And when she needed them to help her with her fines, they wouldn't even talk to her."
In fact, they said, when they approached Ernie and Norma they said the commissioner refused to help her with $100 to help her pay the court-ordered fines that go along with probation. In addition, the court prohibited from engaging in political activities for a year.
"We walked the barrios helping to get him votes so he could be in office and then he turns around and ignores her when she gets in trouble because of him." said one. "And now, when she needs them, they choose to ignore her. They made faces when she approached them for help."
Political operatives in town have a long memory, however. With Ernie and Erin up for reelection, it might not be too long before their candidacies feel the wrath of the scorned politqueras and their base of supporters. It was these bloc of votes that catapulted Ernie Hernandez into political office from the city to the county. In fact, the mail-in votes were the difference that helped him get elected commissioner over Peña and which became the subject of a lawsuit where Peña challenged their validity.
Ernie's critics say that his followers advised the women to leave town. In fact, current Cameron County Democratic chairwoman Sylvia Perez-Garza was overheard telling people that they could go home during one of the breaks in the trial.
Peña brought Hernandez to court and came within 7 votes of the 49-vote difference to overturn that election before a judge from Hidalgo County put an abrupt halt on the process.
You remember.

In the 2010 Democratic primary, Hernandez received 1,206 votes to Peña’s 1,121 votes. But in the runoff, after Peña had beaten Hernandez in the runoff election votes 1,863 1,701, it was the mail-in votes harvested by Ozuna and Becerra (240 for Hernandez to 34 for Peña) that gave Hernandez the win.
Hernandez was declared the winner over Peña, who then sued and was "able to prove fraud, but due to Hernandez's abuse of the discovery process, was unable to prove a sufficient number of illegal votes to overturn the election.
"Hernandez and his wife (Norma), who is also a politiquera, avoided being served with subpoenas and did not attend the trial. The politiqueras also avoided service and absconded rather than appearing at trial. Numerous persons who supposedly voted by mail refused to appear at trial after being served..."
A judge decided that there would not be enough time for the lawsuit to be heard before Hernandez took office.
That was similar to the results of the Erin Hernandez Garcia and Yolanda Begum ran for Justice of the Peace last year. In a similar lawsuit filed by Begum against Garcia in the 357th District Court, Begum charged that Garcia, her family and network of politiqueras like Ozuna used numerous illegal tactics to obtain votes in the runoff: discarding or altering mail-in votes intended for Begum; paying personnel at adult day care centers and nursing homes to allow drivers to take vans full of voters, many elderly or mentally disabled and influencing their votes; taking mail-in ballots from voters; and offering meals and gift cards in exchange for votes.
“The Hernandez family, aided by their network of politiqueras, has stolen two consecutive Democratic primary runoff elections in Cameron County,” the election contest states, referring to this election and the 2010 runoff between Hernandez and Ruben Pena for the county commissioner seat," charged Begum's lawyers.

That case was also thrown out because the visiting judge ruled that if Garcia lost in court, she would not have time enough before she was to take office to appeal any adverse decision.
Next time around neither Hernandez nor Erin will have that vote cushion, the women swear. If each dog shall have his day, then Ernie and Erin might find out that heaven hath no fury like a politiquera scorned.